Hopeless
by Cahaya Sidur
Summary: Teenage human AU. Manny was only supposed to start Sophomore, and go through the usual exchange program with the school from Half-Peak. But then, he met an exchange student by the name of Diego, who had been homeschooled most of his life. Diego's hiding secrets - important ones - from Manny and his friends…but why?
1. Prologue: Hopeless

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

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><p><strong>AN: Something I had had in my mind for a <strong>**_long_**** time, but hadn't thought to put on paper. This is just something I'm doing for fun. Warning: Characters will be OOC, though I will try and make them in character, but since this is an AU, then…'shrugs'**

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><p>Prologue:<p>

"Come on, come on! Where are they?" Diana asked impatiently, staring out of the window. Her brother, Benito, was as eager as she. He leapt up.

"I hope it's a boy!"

"No! A girl!"

Their grandmother chuckled. "Both of you calm down. They'll be back soon." Both bounced impatiently. It had been two hours since they had the call, but they were still unaware of the gender. Both kept their eyes glued to the window.

Then, almost as if on cue, a car pulled up onto the driveway. The two siblings recognised the car and ran outside. Both greeted their mother with a peck on the cheek, and a cheerful greeting to their father, before peeping on. "Where is he?"

Their mother pursed her lips. "Perhaps it is best that you do not see him. He doesn't have a name so far."

"Him!" Benito laughed. "It's a he!" Diana scowled, but tried to peek in. Their grandmother joined them, peering inside. Their father stormed into the house, slamming the door and making the siblings jump. After a moment's hesitation, the mother joined him.

The grandmother carefully reached in and pulled the child out. Diana smiled, and reached out to stroke the baby's head. "He's so tiny."

The grandmother smiled. "I know."

They looked, curious, at something black that had appeared when the blanket had slipped carelessly. The grandmother carefully covered it up again, not seeing it. The children, however, did. Benito leaped up. "What is that?"

"What?" The grandmother frowned, puzzled.

"On his shoulder." Benito pointed out. The grandmother turned him up carefully, and looked at the mark, which, hidden underneath the blanket, was merely a black smudge. The grandmother frowned.

"I'm not sure. Now, I don't think your parents named him." The distraction worked like a charm as both children leapt up eagerly, the black spot having already been flung out of their minds at the choice of having to choose the name of their younger brother.

"Can we name him?" Benito asked eagerly, confirming, receiving a nod in response.

Both siblings had already decided on the name, and smiled at one another, before waiting for the child's eyes to open, expecting the same sky or sea blue that the family all had.

Not green, of course.

No. It can_not_ be green. Diana held her breath as the baby squired and then slowly opened his eyes. He couldn't have green eyes. He _couldn't_.

Suddenly, Diana felt like she couldn't breathe. She had read stories from the family archives every year at the annual family gathering, and had only see one of the ones that she had read about. The stories scared her, and when Benito was born, she had prayed feverently that he wouldn't have green eyes.

He didn't. He had sky blue, inherited from his mother.

She and Benito turned out fine, and the child would be fine. She could see the same worry in their grandmother's eyes, but Benito was too naïve to notice. After all, he had refused to read the archives.

The baby's eyes opened, and Diana backed away. No.

This was why their parents seemed to hate the baby. She saw the confusion and slight fear in Benito's eyes, and the same fear in her grandmother's.

No, this couldn't be.

The baby's - Diego's - eyes were moss green.


	2. Hopeloos

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

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><p><strong>AN: Ok…maybe a <strong>**_bit_**** short, to me, at least. Changed some minor things in the prologue, but might as well check it out. Sorry if anyone was expecting chapters following directly after the prologue, but it's called a prologue for a reason…I think…Anyways, enjoy...**

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><p><strong>PART I<strong>

Chapter 1:

Manfred looked around, yawning as he got up. Yay. The first day of High School. Was it wrong that he wasn't as excited as he should be?

High School meant new teachers, new classrooms, and _loads_ more homework. _And_ the annoying students from Half-Peak Boarding School over for their annual exchange program. Not that any_one_ wanted it…but the teachers seemed determined to do so.

"Wake up, Manny!" His mom's voice drifted from downstairs. 'Manny' had always been a nickname when Sid, a small bumbling chatterbox of a boy his age had given him when deciding that 'Manfred' had been too stiff and upright.

Wonderful. He looked out of the window, and his eyes widened.

Shoot.

Ellie was waiting for him outside.

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><p>Manny nearly crashed into Ellie on his way out of the house. Ellie laughed at his behaviour, dressed in her usual jeans and shirt. Her hair was tied up high on her head, and her warm brown eyes were gleaming. "Morning Manny."<p>

"Morning Ellie." He pecked her cheek, and Ellie smiled.

"Ready for the first day of High School?" Manny nodded.

"Where're your brothers?"

"They found some friends to go to school today."

"What about Sid?" Manny asked as they started up the road to the bus stop. Ellie frowned, clearly thinking.

"His parents are sending him to school today."

Thank god.

"Excited about the exchange program?" Ellie seemed eager.

Manny frowned. "I'm not sure. Will they be friendly?"

Ellie laughed. "You didn't read the form, did you?" Manny smiled slightly sheepishly, though he tried to defend himself, his weak protests getting gunned down by Ellie's. "Well, the answer isn't on it…we'll be taking classes with them with our teachers, and _their_ teachers. Half-Peak is a boarding school, so it'll be interesting!"

"Right." Manny looked as the bus stopped and they got on.

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><p>Manny looked at the assembly hall. On the first day, only the Sophomores would use the hall. The section was split in half, with the students from the school, Half-Peak, standing to the left, and the Valley Academy students standing to the right.<p>

He joined Ellie, Sid, Eddie and Crash to the corner, watching the other school carefully.

Half-Peak was known for their athletes, and their enthusiasm towards sports. However, Valley Academy (the school that Manny and his friends were from) was known for their musicians. Therefore, this resulted in a staring/glaring competition between the two sides.

Manny watched them carefully. Ellie turned to them. "Ready?"

Sid shrunk back slightly as the sophomores from Half-Peak looked at the sophomores at Valley Academy. "Yeah." His voice was tiny. "They seem friendly." He laughed nervously.

Eddie and Crash were smirking. "God, you have _no_ idea what we have planned for them!" Ellie frowned at them.

"Guys."

Both smiled innocently. "Yes?"


	3. i pashpresë

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the wait…wanted to try and make sure that I had a clear plot and idea to where this was going before writing more. Going to apologise in advance if anyone sees this story as poorly written, and for the names, but thanks for reading, and thanks to those who reviewed!<strong>

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><p>Chapter 2:<p>

The past week, though it had been introductory for the students to get used to the school routine, had been hectic. The Half-Peak students and the Valley students had been glaring at each other for the past week, and didn't show any sign of letting down. Well, at least, the Half-Peak students had.

The Valley students, though some were brave enough to glare back, weren't glaring at all. Instead, more like cowering under the glare of the Half-Peak students.

The teachers had to separate two groups from fighting, one from each school.

Manny sat down in time for Biology, along with Ellie, Sid, Crash and Eddie. Contrary to Eddie and Crash's small size, they had a _lot_ of energy, and were the same age as the rest…not that a lot of people believed that.

Manny thought that if Eddie and Crash didn't have their birth certificate to prove their birth, they would have been put down to 6th grade or lower. Maybe lower.

One thing he hated about Biology.

He had had it before, on his first day, and their teacher seemed determined to get both schools getting along. And that was why the tables were lumped together, so that they had to sit together. That was her rule. If they didn't abide, she would herself make the seating arrangements, and no one wanted that, wanting to at least be with a friend.

He looked up as a group came in. It only consisted of 5 people, but Manny knew well that these 5 were from the soccer team in the other school. The Captain, Soto Williams, was strong and buff, but he was sly and cunning enough to get past school. Zeke Jones was a regular hyper person, eyes usually wide and grinning in an eerily frightening way. He was thin and wiry, but like Crash and Eddie, you do _not_ underestimate his energy.

Then there was Oscar Brandon, the sly one, who always got out of doing things because of his way of blackmailing people. Not forgetting Lenny Brown, the largest of them all, and goalie for Half-Peak. He was a shy sabre, but was not afraid to listen to whatever Soto said. And, finally, there was Diego White, the attacker (or so Manny had heard, and _no_, he did not listen to _gossip_, thank you very much), who had a sharp wit, quick mouth, and was light on his feet. He was lean and agile, and was Soto's second-in-command, something that Oscar did not bother hiding his contempt from anyone except for Soto.

Apparently, Soto and Diego had known each other for a the longest, which was about a year or two.

Ellie had informed him that there was a rumour spreading that Diego had been homeschooled until Freshman Year, when he started attending Half-Peak, but based on his laid-back and comfortable attitude, no one would have guessed.

And, for some strange reason, Manny nearly instinctively hated Diego. Hated him with all of his heart. When Diego merely glanced at him, Manny wanted to strangle Diego. He tried to ignore the fact, but it was hard, especially when Diego looked straight at him.

Manny opened his book and pretended to ignore the five as they sat at his table, obviously unhappy about the arrangement as well. "Well, look who it is." Oscar sneered. "The _Herbivores_."

Sid frowned. "Vegetables are good for you. Especially broccoli, which provides…" He continued on, ignoring the fact that the others were not paying attention at all. Soto raised an eyebrow at Manny, obviously asking him what he was doing with _Sid_. Manny had to agree, but Ellie would kill him. And she was glaring at him now.

"How did you get stuck with a _freak_ like-" Oscar was cut off by Diego's sharp warning.

"Oscar." Oscar raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything as Soto glared at him. Oscar glared back, obviously confused about what he had said, and turned his glare on Diego, who didn't falter. Right before the bell rang, Oscar turned, snorting under his breath. Diego opened up his textbook, and everyone fell silent.

Even Sid didn't open his mouth.

Manny wondered what was wrong with him, but Diego didn't give any indication he had done anything, ignoring the Manny and his friends for the rest of the period, which helped Manny ignore him.

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><p>"God." Soto muttered under his breath as he stared at the sheer number of instruments lying neatly in the corner. Ms. Mitford smiled, looking at the number of students around.<p>

"Good afternoon."

The Valley Academy Students echoed back the greeting, but the Half-Peak students remained chillily silent. Ms. Mitford took up a violin. "Now, to have a quick review and to see how the other students can respond. I will play a tune. Tell me the name of the song it is, who wrote it, and, if you can, the history or story behind it."

She played a song that Manny knew, but had forgotten over the summer holidays. He frowned, struggling to remember the name. When Ms. Mitford went around the room, no one could tell her the tune or which notes she had played wrongly. Manny was still thinking about it when she reached Diego.

Diego shook his head.

But Ms. Mitford clearly saw something, and raised an eyebrow. She insisted once more, but Diego refused once again. Another time once again, and he finally gave. "Devil's Trill."

"And who wrote it?" Ms. Mitford wasn't going to let him off easy.

Diego sighed. "Tartini."

"Full name?"

"Gieuseppe Tartini." Diego's voice was laced with sarcasm, that somehow made his words seem more boring than normal. Manny frowned, finally remembering Tartini. Crash and Eddie had played it over the holidays. Damn.

He looked at Crash and Eddie, who were scowling. Clearly, they were thinking of the same thing.

"And?"

Diego frowned, not understanding. "What?"

"The story."

Diego raised an eyebrow at Ms. Mitford, and Manny felt a small ounce of respect for him. Not many people could talk back at Ms. Mitford and not fear her. "Why?"

"Because I asked you."

"What makes you think I know it?"

"If you know Tartini's full name, you should be able to tell me the story."

Diego frowned. "He dreamed that the Devil was playing the song on the violin at the end of his bed. And he woke up and composed the music."

Ms. Mitford smiled, and then turned to face the entire class, all gathered in a circle around the room. "We will be learning about Tartini, and his music for our first project."

Manny frowned at Diego, who was muttering something almost in reply to Oscar's sneer. _Where on Earth did he learn about that?_


	4. يائس

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

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><p><strong>AN: Ok, I'm REALLY sorry, but this story's gotta go on hold for a while while I try and finish the story and get ahead of this by a few chapters. Currently my main priority, but will probably be a few weeks before I update. Hope you enjoy, and BIG thank you to those who reviewed, really appreciate it, made my day! :)<strong>

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><p>Chapter 3:<p>

As it turned out, Diego was the first in and out of the changing rooms for PE. By the time the bell had properly rung, everyone was already out, and watching the coach. He was a grim faced, no-nonsense teacher, who glared at almost everyone.

Only the weak ones, or unable to handle themselves ones cringed and tried to make themselves smaller. Soto and Diego were the only ones who actually dared to glare back at him.

"So." The coach said in a loud voice that reverberated around the field. Manny glanced at Ellie, who smiled nervously. They had the same thoughts: This coach looked fierce, and would probably be so. "The first thing we are starting is the endurance and relay race programme."

_Is there such a program_? Manny wondered silently, before the coach pointed to Soto and Diego.

"Both of you, go first." He gestured behind him, where there was an array of gym equipment. Manny had _never_ seen so many pieces of fine equipment like those before, and silently acknowledged the fact that Half-Peak had brought it here with them.

It started off as a sprint, for about 100 metres, and then had a long jump thing-y, before clambering to the top of a wall using a piece of rope, climbing up a pole with a piece of rope and grabbing one of the many cloths up there, and then getting back down, leaping over several objects, and then finishing, with the coach recording the scores, thus explaining the clipboard that he now picked up, which had a timer on it.

Soto and Diego prepared themselves, before the coach blew his whistle. "GO!"

Both broke off into a sprint, trying to get ahead of the other. Diego, clearly being faster and more agile, jumped and then continued on running while the coach examined the sand print. Soto was able to go further, being stronger and bigger.

By the time Soto reached the rope and wall, Diego was already halfway up, grasping furiously at the rope. However, Soto had the advantage of being stronger, and easily caught up even as Diego gracefully leapt down onto the mat waiting below, and then taking off again to the pole, using the rope once again to get to the top. Soto's landing was less graceful, but he managed all the same, and ran to the pole, his strength once again earning him the upper advantage. Each grabbed a piece of cloth, and leapt down, before running to the finish.

The coach blew on his whistle, which hung around his neck. "Diego: 38 seconds. Soto, 40.5 seconds. Good."

Then, came the rest. Manny soon found out that Soto was more like the coach, screaming at anyone who couldn't do it, while Diego was more silent, exasperatedly berating the students, but helping them across, unlike Soto, who expected them to do so.

As the line moved on, he noticed most of the students from Valley tried to keep with Diego instead of Soto.

Surprisingly, Manny strongly didn't like Diego, and was praying for Soto instead, no matter how brusque or blunt Soto was.

But it was _just_ his luck that he was paired with Diego.

Diego looked him over, which made Manny uncomfortable as he struggled not to glare at him with hate. "Go then." Heck, even his voice irritated Manny. When their arms brushed only briefly as he moved to help Soto, who was dealing with a petrified girl, Manny wanted to kill him right there and then.

He shook his head. _What was wrong with him_?

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><p>PE was finally over, and Diego, strangely, was the last one out, walking with his friends. Manny glared at him, before feeling a warm hand on his shoulder, and he turned to face Ellie.<p>

"Are you ok?"

Manny nodded stiffly, before looking at his timetable, though he didn't need to. "We have English next. Let's go."

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><p>Ellie knew something was wrong. It didn't show very obviously, but it was evident from the way that Manny always seemed to be glaring at Diego when the boy didn't even turn to him. And then when Diego had accidentally brushed his arm against Manny's, going to help Soto.<p>

Manny had looked absolutely monstrous, his hands clenched into fists and shaking, before turning and starting on the course.

She herself felt animosity towards the boy, though he had done nothing to her, not even look at her, since she had gotten Soto helping her.

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><p>The week went on unsuccessfully.<p>

Ellie and her friends seemed to find something wrong and odd about Diego, despite him not even looking at them, especially during biology.

During music, their groups were assigned. Either there was one Valley student in a group of Half-Peak students, or one Half-Peak students amongst a group of Valley students. Diego had the unfortunate luck to be mixed with Ellie, Crash & Eddie, Sid, and Manny.

As it turned out, Diego had leanrt about Tartini before somehow, since he knew almost anything the group had needed to know about Tartini, leaving Manny absolutely frustrated at how he refused to answer their questions as to how he knew Tartini.

Ellie tried to ease the tension between both of them, but it was hard, considering that Diego had every right to do so, and Manny was the one being infuriating, not having any reason at all to glare at Diego yet doing so. Diego seemed annoyed with him, in return, and instead withdrew himself, only providing information.

After a few days of doing this, Ellie soon got used to Diego's presence, and the nagging little voice that had been in her head telling her not to get too close to Diego soon faded as background noise.

Diego himself got used to the little quirks and odd behaviour of the group, though he still wasn't used to talking to them, being the first to leave the room.

Ellie frowned now, musing the last few days, and the work that they had done. Compared to the other groups, they had done quite well. While they were packing up the materials in the classroom, Diego turned to put down a stack of books, dodging, but still getting hit by a music stand carried by Shira, a member of Gutt's 'crew'.

Gutt was the bully around the school, though no one had caught enough evidence to even suspend him yet. No one dared face up to him, but now, Soto's group was giving him a run for his money.

Both Diego and Shira growled at one another, and turned, Diego rubbing his neck as he glared after her angrily.

It was only then that Ellie noticed a black mark or something poking out on Diego's back, before it slipped back on.

_What was with that? _


	5. անհույս

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

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><p><strong>AN: Hi again, and THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! The story will move along a little faster now, and will start to get to the real thing in about…chapter 10? Not sure yet though… thanks for reading!<strong>**  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 4:<p>

Ellie sighed as Manny once again glared at Diego. Not even she could get out of him why Manny seemed to hate him so much. These past few days, Diego had steadily ignored Manny, but by now, he turned, exasperated to face Manny. "_What_ is it?"

"What is what?" Manny asked, almost nonchalantly, except that he was glaring at Diego.

Diego frowned. "Ever since biology on the first day, you've been glaring at me as if I did something. Tell me. _What_ did I do?"

Manny frowned as well. "You're from Half-Peak."

"And this is a good enough reason in order to hate me?" Diego scowled. "Why didn't _I_ think of that?"

Manny frowned again. "Not my fault."

"No, that's not it. You're glaring at _me_, not anyone else, not Soto, not Lenny, not anyone else."

"I don't know." Manny suddenly looked uncertain underneath Diego's harsh glare, but not as if he was scared, but as if he was rethinking all of the past events and truly did not know.

Diego sighed. "You don't know. Great. Then I'm going to ask: Stop glaring at me. I'll even say please."

"Don't make it hard for yourself." Manny scowled, but turned, going back to his own work. Ellie sighed. Then again, Diego wasn't exactly making it easier for himself.

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><p>Over the next few days, the tension between all of them eased surprisingly fast, unlike some of the other groups. Ellie, of course, had always wondered where on earth he had learnt about Tartini that he could go into his biography and music with such depths, but wherever he had, he hadn't learnt about other composers, evident when Ellie started talking about Bach's music and Diego had given her a blank look.<p>

As it turned out, the "Devil's Trill" was his favourite piece.

During PE, Diego had become somewhat softer with the other students, though he still retained his gruff and serious personality, though only few could see the sarcasm that had also taken a part of his personality that he had so carefully constructed.

Now, Manny, of course, still hated him, but he had somehow managed dull out the hatred, only trusting Diego the necessary amount. If there _was_ one.

Ellie sighed as she walked to music class. The groups separated reluctantly into the groups assigned, and then started work.

Not only did they need to find a piece of Tartini's music and explain it as best they could, but they had to perform a song of Tartini's, and then do a composition based on one of Tartini's pieces.

They hadn't got to that part yet, but they were going to be soon.

Thanks to the agreement, each school had an extra session of the other's lessons, where they would learn the skills required to match up the others' level.

Valley Academy had suffered for the past few weeks in PE. Half-Peak Academy, because of some of their private tutors, were getting along nicely. Other than Music and PE, which usually took 2 hours each, the other lessons went on as if nothing happened at all.

Soto's pack rifled up Gutt's crew, but both dodged any sort of detention or punishment easily.

That was, until 1 week later.

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><p>It had been, surprisingly, a rather small matter, but one which had gotten the pack into detention. And Shira. Gutt, apparently, had had something stolen, which he blamed on the pack, and had somehow managed to frame them, though there had been no implications how or when. Shira had accidentally been caught in the fray, which meant automatic detention for her as well.<p>

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><p>"What are you doing here, kitty?" Shira glared at the smirking Diego, the 'enemy' second-in-command to the group that had helped her in her most desperate situations.<p>

"Shut up if you know what's good for you."

"I do." Diego assured her. "But I know that it has nothing to do with shutting up."

Shira growled. "Would you like to taste a knuckle sandwich? They're very appetising."

"As tempting as that sounds, no." He eyed her. "I thought you were a part of Gutt's crew."

"I am!"

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Accident."

Diego shrugged. "Don't need to be so defensive. Just saying." He looked around. "Doesn't seem to be an accident, though."

Shira snorted. "This is a part of Gutt's plan. And Gutt's got my back."

"Oh?" Diego asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yes." Shira growled back, wondering why on earth no one else of Soto's pack was in, before seeing out of the corner of her eye that they were playing around, making the teacher furious, but technically not doing anything that could get them a punishment.

"Because I don't and didn't see Gutt trying to defend you or get you out of here."

Shira fell silent at that, contemplating it over. When she looked up again, she met Diego's serious expression. "You don't want to get involved with them if you can help it, kitty." He straightened up from where he had been leaning down to talk to her as she slumped over her seat. "Think about it."


	6. ümidsiz

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

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><p><strong>AN: Updates will hopefully go a little faster now, maybe once a week…hope you enjoy, and HUGE thanks to those that reviewed!<strong>

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><p>Chapter 5:<p>

"What are you doing?" Shira finally decided to stand up and move over to Diego. Diego looked up, his green eyes just screaming mischief. He frowned, as if hesitating, before speaking in a low voice.

"We're getting out of here."

Shira glanced at the clock. There was still another 5 minutes. Had she _really_ spent that long contemplating what Diego had said? "Why? There's only 5 minutes left."

"Please." Diego snorted. "Mr. Henney over there _hates_ us. He'll do anything to keep us back, including _accidentally_" He used air quotes. "forgetting the time or missing it to keep us in for an extra hour so that we can't go to soccer practice."

Shira hesitated, before nodding. "I want to help."

"You-_You_ want to help us?" Diego smirked, almost looking incredulous.

"Shut up. What do I do?" Shira asked, growling.

Diego looked at her thoughtfully, before nodding. "Key's in the back pocket of Mr. Henney. We get it, we knock him out, we lock him inside, and slide the key inside, so he can't deny not having the key. On second thoughts, knock him out _first._"

Shira nodded, and looked at Mr. Henney, who was keeping an eye out on the 6 lone individuals even as he read from the book. Diego nudged her. "Follow my lead."

Both walked up to the teacher, who raised a suspicious eyebrow at them. "What do you want?"

Diego opened his mouth to speak, before his eyes seemed to have widen in disbelief. Shira frowned at how easily Mr. Henney turned around, and swore that she saw Diego's eyes literally gleam for a second, before they turned back to normal.

She shook her head. That must have been a trick of the light. At Diego's quick gesture, she plucked a dictionary off the table and slammed it on Mr. Henney's head.

Mr. Henney looked dazed for a moment, before slumping over his chair. Diego whistled. "Nice hit." Shira smirked at him as Zeke came by, and easily slid his hand into Mr. Henney's trousers and grabbed the keys.

"Let's get out of here." Without hesitation, all of them went out, and Zeke locked the door, before sliding the keys through the bottom of the door.

"You'd think that they would learn how to handle people like us."

Diego smirked, and turned. He sighed, but joined his friends for soccer practice.

Shira was gone.

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><p>Shira ran as fast as she could, before suddenly halting in the silent corridor as she overheard Gutt, just around the corner. "Good riddance."<p>

"Shouldn't we be getting her out of there?" Shira felt a warmth of affection towards Flynn, but then stopped at Gutt's growl.

"Just leave her."

Shira steeled herself, and then glared at the wall, before walking out, making sure her footsteps were heard. She faked a smirk at Gutt. "Finally got out."

Gutt turned, a phoney smile on his face. "Shira! Thought you would never make it!"

"Hm. Turns out the ''pack'' wasn't so strong either."

"Oh? And you locked them in, no?"

Shira felt her blood turn cold. "No. I didn't get a chance to-" A hand slammed her against the wall, and she gasped for breath, her eyes wide as she faced Gutt's cold ones. She struggled to breathe, trying to get out of his grip. Faintly, she heard footsteps, but that just might have been her imagination: If the crew didn't hear it, then she didn't.

"Do you know what happens to those that are-"

"What are you doing?" A voice questioned from the corner of the hall.

Gutt growled, turning around and facing Diego, who was dressed for soccer practice, but was clearly rushing to get something. "Stay out of this!"

"Fine." Diego shrugged. "Just let me get my stuff and I'll go."

Gutt reluctantly backed away, eyes fixed on Diego still as he walked past them, cautious of their every move. Then, in a way that only Shira noticed, he angled his body so that he crashed into Shira unnoticeably. "Watch it!" Both of them growled to one another as Shira fell. She noticed something on the floor, and as the crew turned back to Diego, quickly read it.

_Run._

Not knowing what was on her mind at the time, she instinctively listened to the note, and ran, narrowly dodging Gutt himself as she ran. Diego turned, tackling down Gutt, before joining Shira, holding her hand and tugging her. "Come on!"

Diego was _fast_, she had to admit that.

Even her, one of the most athletic in Valley, was having a kinda hard time keeping up with him.

Then, Diego turned and shoved her into a room, slamming the door behind them. From the other side, they could hear Gutt growling, before muttering something and storming the other way. "Closet, really?" Shira whispered to Diego, too grateful from escaping Gutt's clutches.

Diego smirked. "Improvisation, kitty." He opened the door cautiously, and sighed. "Coach is going to kill me!" He hurried away, but Shira grabbed his arm. He started, turning around. "What is it? I gotta go!"

"Thanks."

"Ok, tell me later."

"How about tomorrow lunch?" Shira asked, and watched as a spark of amusement lighted in Diego's eyes.

"Are you asking me out, kitty?" Diego asked, eyebrow raised.

"Depends on if you agree, warrior princess." Shira smirked.

Diego looked bemused and a little offended by the nickname, but he smirked as well. "At 1, under the grove."

And with that, he ran off, leaving Shira to wonder what on earth she had gotten herself into.


	7. Etsita

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks so much for the reviews! Sorry if anyone thinks what happened was sudden…I'm not sure how long this will be going on for…BTW, I have a poll, vote for it! :) Hope you enjoy! (I was hoping to get the chapter up earlier, but I forgot and I thought that I had already posted it! :P)<strong>

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><p>Chapter 6:<p>

Ellie wondered what was wrong with Diego. He seemed slightly distracted even as he answered any questions that they had to answer about Tartini and his music. She also noticed his eyes almost unconsciously drifting over to Shira when she wasn't looking.

And, if she was right, Shira was doing the exact same thing.

She wondered what was going on, but decided not to intrude. She looked up at the clock. One hour to go, and then they could have lunch. As if sensing her thoughts, her stomach gave a low grumble, and Diego raised an eyebrow at her.

She grinned sheepishly, before turning back to the work. And then, after lunch…she nearly groaned. PE.

* * *

><p>Diego had <em>no<em> idea why he was so jumpy. It was just lunch with his pack's enemies' 'first mate', and he was Soto's second-in-command.

He walked to the grove, putting on a smirk when he saw Shira already there. "Afternoon, kitty."

"Same to you, warrior princess."

Diego rolled his eyes, but took a seat at the bench where Shira was seating. Taking out an apple, he began to eat it, savouring the sweetness of the ripe fruit. "Aren't you hungry?" Shira asked suddenly as he turned, startled. She was looking at her own lunch, 2 pieces of pizza.

He shrugged. "I'm used to it." He smirked. "Besides, when you're having soccer practice at 4 at night and Coach is yelling at you to work harder and miss dinner, you tend to _have_ to be able to do that." Shira laughed, surprised with herself.

She sighed. "Why did you do it?"

"Sorry, you'll have to specify: Talking about the time that I had tried to punch Gutt and you nearly got hit instead, or when I saved you yesterday?"

Shira looked at him for a moment, before punching him. The apple dropped to the ground, and Diego rubbed his arm. "Thanks a lot." He shot her a look. Shira glared back.

"Thank you."

"You know, you have a way of saying 'Thank You' that makes it sound like 'Drop Dead'."

"It's a gift." Shira said sarcastically.

Diego sighed. "It's a great gift." Then, his eyes narrowed. "Why was Gutt trying to strangle you?"

"No reason." Shira blurted out too quickly, and turned away back to her lunch.

A raised eyebrow. "You're as bad a liar as the other herbivores."

Shira growled. "Not exactly the fiercest predator with the carnivores, are you? And one thing that herbivores can do that carnivores can't?"

Another raised eyebrow. "They eat vegetables?"

"No. They can swim." For that brief second, Shira regretted what she had said. Diego froze, skin losing colour, eyes wide and terrified, before he seemed to shake it off.

"Not as if all herbivores can swim, you know?" Diego asked as he leaned back, eyes closed. Shira wondered if she imagined the whole thing one again. If then, she was losing her mind around Diego most often. "Anyway, where's Gutt? He'd kill you if he saw us."

Shira tried not to blush as the implication. "Made the easter bunny the replacement."

Diego smirked. "And you?"

"Shut up." Shira growled. "None of your business."

"Really? I think it is." Diego turned to face Shira. Shira rolled her eyes, looking at her meal. Suddenly, it didn't look very appetising anymore.

She stood up and balanced the food carefully, before promptly tripping on the apple in front of her. She fell backwards, crashing into Diego, who yelped as the food went flying sideways. Both were now in a very awkward position, with Diego still on the bench, and Shira perched over him, dangerously close.

Shira unconsciously licked her lips, and inched closer to Diego. From this close up, she could see almost every individual eyelash of Diego's, see his bright green eyes, even smell the forest-like smell around him.

He was so close. Just an inch away.

She closed her eyes as she leaned in. When their lips brushed, the bell rang, and both immediately stepped back, muttering incoherent excuses, almost as if just realising what they had done. They immediately backed away, and looked at each other, before turning and hastily walking away.

* * *

><p>"Partners. Yay." Manny muttered incoherently under his breath. He refrained from glaring at the Spanish teacher (why did he take Spanish and not <em>French<em>?), and then sighed as the teacher went on.

"Your partners have already been chosen for you-"

This caused a wave of groans and disappointed mutters.

The teacher started reciting a list of names, and Manny only paid attention to _some_ of them: "Raz and Gutt…Sid and Oscar…Crash and Eddie…Ellie and Zeke…Manny-" Here he paid attention. "And Soto…" He growled, glaring at the captain of the soccer team as Soto glared back. "Diego and Shira…"

There were a few knowing looks as Shira and Diego looked horrified by their choice of partner, staring in disbelief at the teacher. Quiet rumours were spreading around from the moment that Sid had decided that both of them would make a great couple. And the rumours had spread.

But for now, Manny couldn't care less.

Now, he was stuck with Soto for the rest of the month doing the stupid project.


	8. безнадзейны

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AN - STOP SOPA 2014 NOW, OR ELSE ALL FANART, ALL FANPAGES, FANFICS, FANMADE VIDEOS ETC. WILL BE DELETED! .govpetition/stop-sopa-2014/q0Vkk0Zr#thank-you=p**

**Thank you for the reviews…hopefully more people will sign the petition, and I'll be able to finish this story...!**

**Sorry to anyone if they think that Diego and Shira's relationship had developed too quickly, but it was a sort of vital point in the story, and I am _terrible_ at these sort of developing romances.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7:<p>

Ellie faced the hyperactive boy, who glared at her. "Listen up! We get the project done with, and then we forget each other, ok?" Ellie wanted to laugh at how much Zeke reminded her of her brothers.

"Sure." She nodded, smiling.

Zeke scowled at the smile, and turned. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Sid gulped nervously as he faced Oscar. "Um, hi, so when should we start the project-"<p>

"Shut up." Oscar growled.

"Ok." Sid turned hastily and they sat in silence.

* * *

><p>Manny glared at Soto, who did the same back. Both were tense, rigid and in disbelief at having been chosen. Manny quickly looked around. Ellie and Zeke looked like they were getting on ok, and Oscar was ordering Sid around. He turned to the last pair that concerned him (Eddie and Crash weren't included), and raised an eyebrow.<p>

* * *

><p>Shira tried not to turn red as Diego approached and plopped down in the coincidentally empty seat beside her. "Hi."<p>

"Hi."

Both sat, the tension thick. "So, who do you want to do?"

"Franceso Cortez?" Shira asked, as detached as him.

"Fine."

Diego lowered his voice. "You know the other students are staring, right?" That broke the tension.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Shira hissed back. Then, a thought occurred to her as she saw Gutt's threatening smirk. "Work with me."

"What?" Diego asked, confused.

"Look, um," Shira turned back to him. "Ok, no one, from their looks, expect for us to work well."

"Duh." Diego raised an eyebrow.

"So we work together."

"Go on…"

"And we prove them all wrong?"

"Why do I think that you have a deeper motive than that?"

"Because I do. I'll do his background, send it to you, and let you translate it."

"Gee, playing the translator. I feel so honoured."

Shira smirked. "You should be."

* * *

><p>Shira sighed as she stared at her laptop, while Diego waited for her piece of information. "So…" He drifted off knowingly, a smirk on his face as she growled at him.<p>

"Shut up."

"'k. _Just_ saying."

Shira sighed in exasperation as she shoved the laptop away to the table beside her. "Why do we have to do this stupid thing again?"

"Mix of History and Languages. Not the best combination, but I can work with it." Shira sighed.

"And why are we in a separate classroom from everyone else?"

"Everyone gets the spare classrooms." Diego leaned back in his chair, leaning back. "Seems to think that we'll destroy the rooms if we're left in it."

Shira sighed. "I know, but _still_. It's so…empty. Then again," She added as an afterthought. "I suppose the incident before had something to do with it."

"What incident?" Diego looked interested.

"Some science thing. We blew up a classroom."

Diego laughed. "You guys have more fun than us."

Shira smirked. "Jealous?"

"Hardly, your highness." Diego stood up. "If you aren't gonna do any work, we'll never get this work done."

"I'm _TRYING_!" Shira turned to the door, Diego's back facing it. And that was the reason why he didn't see Gutt and Raz walking by, both smirking and ready to get them now that the teacher expected them to stay in their separate assigned classrooms. Without thinking, she immediately did what her senses were screaming at her to do, and she grabbed Diego by the shirt and kissed him.

Diego tensed, but Shira only broke apart slightly enough to murmur "Follow my lead."

"Why?"

"Because I told you so." And then she kissed him again. She gradually felt him relax, or, at least, _force_ his body to relax. Shira's mind was now screaming at her _What on earth was she _doing_?! _God. Her mind could be so _fickle_ sometimes.

However, for now, she just relaxed against him. Her arms gently wrapped around his neck as one of his wrapped around her neck and the other around her waist. She buried her hand in his hair, and inhaled the scent of him. The minty forest smell that she had grown to accomusted to him.

Eventually, when the need for air became too great, they broke apart.

Shira turned to the door, and Diego followed her actions, curious. "What _were_ you doing?" Shir was relieved to see Gutt and Raz gone, before wincing internally as she now realised the depth of what she had done. And rumours spread _fast_ in Valley Academy.

"Gutt." Shira said.

"_Gutt_?" Diego choked. "Are you crazy, Shira? Yes, and the rumours will spread, that Gutt had officially seen us together." Shira laughed suddenly, the situation striking her as funny. Diego looked at her, bemused. "And what have I said?"

"Well, the rumours would be true, won't they?"

Diego raised a questioning eyebrow, and Shira faintly noticed that his arm around her waist hadn't moved yet, and neither had her arm. She leaned her forehead against his. "Well, at least, we shouldn't disappoint too hugely, should we?"

And leaned in to kiss him again.

* * *

><p>The next day, Diego noticed the others staring strangely at him, and he frowned. "What?"<p>

"Nothing!" Sid turned around hastily. Diego frowned, though he knew full well what was going on. The rumours _did_ spread quickly. Faster than a plague.

He smirked internally as he met Shira's eyes from the other end of the room. She bore a similar smirk, and turned back to her group.


	9. আশ হ ন

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AN - STOP SOPA 2014 NOW, OR ELSE ALL FANART, ALL FANPAGES, FANFICS, FANMADE VIDEOS ETC. WILL BE DELETED! .govpetition/stop-sopa-2014/q0Vkk0Zr#thank-you=p **

**I'm starting to think that maybe we'll make it…for now, I'll be updating everyday…:(**

**Thank you for the reviews…hopefully more people will sign the petition, and I'll be able to finish this story...!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8:<p>

Shira smirked at the looks on the others' faces. God, it was taking all of her willpower not to laugh at them. Looking at Diego, she wondered how he kept such a straight face. He was sitting at the other end of the canteen with the soccer team, easily and smoothly blocking any blows that were used to taunt him with Shira.

Two fifths of the canteen was crowded with those from Half-Peak. The other two fifths was full of only Valley students. The last one fifth was the small group of students that had decided to either put away their hate for the opposing party and become friends, or the naturally naïve students who made friends (And for the ones from Half-Peak, the ones who manipulated the naïve ones).

She sighed.

After that day, Gutt had gone out of his way to tease her about Diego, and about how he would rip him to shreds. Not that Shira believed him, but still…

She shuddered, and turned back.

Shira sat down at an empty table, before she sensed someone behind her, and turned, surprised. "Ellie."

The kind-hearted girl was smiling. "You want to join us?"

"Um-" Shira looked startled. No one had _ever_ asked her to join them.

"Come on!" Ellie pulled her up (She was _strong_) and led her to her table. The boys were glaring at her, but Shira sat down and glared back frigidly, before starting to eat, feeling Diego's burning gaze in the back of her head, before it turned away.

Shira smirked down into her lunch, and turned as Ellie started talking to her.

* * *

><p>Diego couldn't help but feel some sort of suspicion towards Shira. It was true that he trusted her (almost <em>completely<em>) but there was still something about her that he didn't trust. He knew he should be following his instincts, but he couldn't help trying to stop himself.

He remembered the last time he had not trusted someone.

That someone had been Benito's best friend. He closed his eyes, trying to calm down his breathing and his pulse. God knew what happened if he lost control.

And that was the mantra inside of his head: _Not here. Not here. Not here._

He could faintly hear voices trying to talk to him, fading into bleakness as soon as they stopped talking.

_Not here. Not here. Not here_.

Each mantra was punctuated by a sharp memory. "_Di, come on! It'll be fun!" "No, it won't!" _

_Not here. Not here. Not here._

_"I don't trust him." "It's just your imagination."_

_Not here, not here, not here._

_"Benito, please don't go!" "Di, it's just a trip down. Like always."_

_Not here not here not here._

_"BENITO!" _

_Not here not here not HERE._

_A sickening crash and a scream with fire, and Diego felt numb. _

_Not here NOT HERE NOT HERE!_ He realised faintly that he was tugging at his hair, and the sharp pain was the only thing left grounding him to where he was now, and that hands were trying to pry his hands away from his hair.

_NOT HERE NOT HERE NOT HERE!_

And just like that, Diego blacked out.

* * *

><p>Shira noticed something. A feeling. She turned around inconspicuously, trying not to draw attention, and her eyes widened as they fell on Diego. He was currently tugging at his hair, knuckles white from the force he used, eyes closed, breathing shallow and unsteady.<p>

Soto, who was glaring at her, noticed the same thing as her, and he froze, dropping his food back to the tray. He shoved the meal away, got out of his seat, and then went over to Diego. "Diego?" The whole room had fallen silent, watching him in apprehension.

"Shira?" Shira jumped as a hand lay on her shoulder. Ellie stared at her, worried. "What's wrong?" Shira could only croak out a single word answer.

"Diego."

All of the group turned immediately at the name, and then turned to the person in question, who was now on the floor, slumped up against his seat, desperately trying to regain his normal breathing rate, head snapping violently to the side every few seconds, hands still buried in his hair.

Soto was trying to pry Diego's hands off, but it didn't seem to be working. "Ellie, what are you doing?"

Ellie had already rushed from her seat to where Diego was slumped, Soto kneeling beside him, looking panicked. "Did this happen before?"

"Of course not!" Soto snapped.

"Get him to the nurse."

There was no need to repeat this. Diego was led out by Soto and Lenny, while everyone else watched in astounded silence. Ellie turned to face Manny, hidden in the crowd, and was horrified to see, in that brief moment as Diego passed where Manny was sitting, glee in his eyes.

* * *

><p>Shira paced nervously outside of the nurse's office. Who <em>cared<em> about who found out the relationship?! If you could call it that.

But she didn't care.

And that was why she was waiting outside with Ellie and the rest, along with Soto, Lenny, Zeke and Oscar (though he didn't look happy about it). The nurse came out, surprised at the sudden bombarding questions. She raised her hands, and all of them fell silent.

"What's wrong?" Ellie asked, after they were all quiet.

"I'm afraid that I can't tell you anything until his parents themselves come here."

"What?!" Soto looked incredulous. "His parents are away! Who the heck knows where they are?! _He_ doesn't know where they are!"

"Really?" Sid looked interested.

Soto waved him off. "Or maybe he just doesn't bother. But c'mon!"

"His sister's coming over."

"His who?" Shira asked, confused.

"His sister. His emergency contact." The nurse said calmly, as if that explained everything. Shira's eyebrows raised. Up until now, she wasn't even aware that he had siblings.

From the blank look on his face, Soto didn't know either. "Sorry, what's her name?"

A voice sounded from beside him. "Diana. Now, where's my brother?"


	10. beznadežan

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: OMG…only 6,000 signatures needed left. C'MON PEOPLE! :) Let's get those signatures coming in...<strong>

** .gov/petition/stop-sopa-2014/q0Vkk0Zr **

* * *

><p>Chapter 9:<p>

Soto jumped as he turned, to see an older female looking down on them. She had her hair up in a loose bun (light brown, Shira noted, like Diego's, though it lacked the darker highlights). Everything about her, the strict way she held herself and her cool expression made her nearly opposite to Diego, who usually held himself in a casual joking manner. However, one similarity that they shared was the gracefulness. Shira had seen Diego move around before, and though one would see it as clumsy, there was a sort of gracefulness in the way that he moved around, and Diana carried herself the same way.

However, one glaringly obvious difference was their eye colour.

While Diego had bright green eyes that gleamed with mischief whenever he grinned, and darkened dangerously every time he glared at someone, Diana had bright blue eyes that held stress and worry right now.

"And I believe he is awake now." Diana spoke, and entered the room before the others could get a better look at her. They turned to the window, where Diego was now staring blankly at the wall in front of him, not seeming to even have registered Diana's presence.

And then Diana closed the curtains.

* * *

><p>"What do you think is up with Diego?" Sid asked. The incident had been yesterday. Today, all were walking together - a rare occurrence, going over to pick up Shira, at Ellie's strict insistence. Manny shrugged, still not exactly on conversation level with Diego yet. Ellie sighed.<p>

"I hope he'll be ok."

Manny shrugged. "He's survived worst."

Ellie frowned. "How do you know that?" She reprimanded. At least Manny had the decency to look sheepish. He shrugged, and looked up. They were reaching Shira's place. Shira looked up from where she was going out of her house, and looked startled at seeing the group there.

"What do you want?" She asked gruffly.

Ellie shrugged. "We're walking to school, and we're seeing if you want to join us."

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Shira asked in exasperation.

"Nope." Ellie shook her head. A ghost of a smile flickered across Shira's face, before it was gone as she started walking with them. Eddie and Crash ran around them, laughing all the while as the group walked up the pavement, playing on the pavement and the road.

Suddenly, Shira's head snapped up. "Get out of the way!" Both looked up startled, and Ellie caught the warning in time, pulling everyone away from the road just as a car zoomed by, in the wrong direction, and purposely crashing hard into another car. The small group froze in astonishment that what had just happened.

"Oh my god. What the _hell_ just happened?" Eddie asked in a small voice. Ellie blinked, while Shira looked down, frowning.

"We should get to school. Like, now."

Listening to her, they ran the rest of the way to school.

* * *

><p>The next days, rumours about Diego and his sister were spreading rapidly around the school, and also about his collapse. Apparently, they had been arguing rather loudly, and the nurse herself had to go in there and kick Diana out, because she was, apparently, 'disrupting the patient's recovery process'.<p>

It was unknown what they were arguing about, though.

As Diego walked into the room, alone for once, and took his seat, silence fell upon the students in the room. He sat down and opened a book, not seeming to notice the silence that fell when he had entered, which greatly contrasted the difference as to before he had entered: Loud and boisterous.

Shira entered the classroom, having had to run to her locker to get something when they arrived, and took the seat next to him, taking out her notebook and beginning to scrawl something in it.

Ellie frowned. Both seemed to act as if nothing had happened, and from what she had seen, Shira had _definitely_ been affected. But then, as the teacher walked in, she opened up her diary. Better not to think about it now. What was in Diego's family and his and Shira's relationship was entirely their business, and she had no right to think about it.

It was safer that way.

* * *

><p>During Music class, Diego had remained silent and distant, only answering when spoken to. It was like all the way back to square one, although he did grin weakly once as Sid tripped over a folder strewn on the floor and bumped his head on a stand: nothing too serious to worry about constantly. And the fact that Sid had laughed along showed how harmless the act was.<p>

Diego kept silent even as PE rolled around, though he normally would be chatting eagerly with his friends. Soto seemed worried, casting fleeting barely noticeable glances at Diego, which you would only notice if you were actually looking for it.

Shira was the only one that he seemed to tolerate for the day.

Ellie supposed that after suffering a panic attack in front of the whole school, he had a right to be as withdrawn as this, but one thing that she couldn't erase from her memory whenever she thought of the panic attack was the gleeful look in Manny's eyes as Diego collapsed and was hauled past him.

That disturbed her.

Manny had shown hate, and even aggression, towards Diego at the beginning, but collapsing just like that, in that condition shouldn't make him _that_ happy. She briefly wondered if there was something in the picture that she was missing, but shook her head mentally.

Better not.

And so she smiled as she passed Diego.


	11. Walay paglaum nga

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: God…104,000 signatures, maybe even OVER that for the SOPA petition...<strong>

**Well, sad to say, my updates will slow down now, because I _really_ need to try and catch up on this story and some others…Thanks for the reviews!**

**(BTW, I do not own any of the songs, but they're pretty good, if you haven't heard of them - not likely that you haven't heard of them - **

**Dynamite, by Tao Cruiz**

**Super Bass, by Nicki Minaj**

**Angel with a Shotgun, by The Cab**

**Break the Sword of Justice, by Kajiura Yuki)**

* * *

><p>Chapter 10:<p>

Ellie sighed as she moved through the small alcove at the back of the school, reaching the small garden with trees. The fresh air and coolness made her feel free. She had a free period now, one which for she was extremely grateful for, but the other didn't. The coldness was now getting to everyone, and they were starting to wear warmer clothes. Winter looked like it was going to come early this year.

She moved around a tree, before stopping abruptly as she noticed Diego sitting and leaning against a base of a tree, his laptop open on his lap, connected to his headphones. His eyes were closed but he opened them every one in a while to click on something in his laptop, nodding his head along to what Ellie supposed was music.

She quietly tried to creep closer, thankful for all the times spent with Eddie and Crash hiding from her mother: Which meant that she was silent when she wanted to be despite her large size.

As she managed to get closer, she paused abruptly as she noticed Diego turn around, looking around, eyes narrowed. Ellie was sure that he could have heard her heart beating.

She nearly heaved a sigh of relief as he turned back to his laptop. Ellie crept over to some bushes, and watched Diego's laptop. To say she was surprised was an understatement. She could see different songs being listed to the side, and what she supposed was a song in the middle.

Then, as she continued to watch, she saw Diego click on one of the songs, expanding it to the same frequencies. He listened to a bit, then cut it out and placed it at the back of the song. The song briefly showed many different colours, similar to the colours of the songs in the side, and Ellie wanted to smack herself.

_Stupid, STUPID_.

But then Ellie's mind halted.

Diego (last name that she didn't know), second-in-command to Soto's soccer team, and on other different sports teams that she didn't know about, who hated Valley, was doing something related to _music_.

She turned as she heard someone coming, and Diego did to, before standing up, snapping his laptop shut, shoving them into his bag, and then turned, exiting the garden, thankfully still not noticing Ellie.

Ellie came out of where she was hiding, and looked at what Diego had been sitting, before realising that Diego had dropped something there. His phone. Ellie had never seen one of these, but she knew it was an expensive brand from the slimness and lightness. She knew that all phones had a basic layout that can easily be hacked into. Her brothers had taught her how to.

And she knew that she shouldn't, but she wanted to see what he had. After all, it's not everyday that you see this happen.

With that thought in mind, Ellie unlocked the phone, and scrolled to the music section. Her eyes widened. That was a _lot_ of songs. She clicked for the number of songs, and nearly dropped the phone. _234, 586_.

Was it even _possible_ for a phone to contain _so many_ songs?

She opened the playlists, and opened the file that was crudely labelled: 01. _Mashups_?! Ellie nearly lost her mind there and then. She played one, quickly realising the songs: Dynamite, by Tao Cruiz. Super Bass, by Nicki Minaj. Angel with a Shotgun, by The Cab. And Break the Sword of Justice, by Kajiura Yuki.

And, _god_, the mashup was good.

If Diego really could do _this_, then he had an ear for music.

Which made Ellie wonder: Why on earth would he deny knowledge of any music, when his knowledge (she guessed, at least, according to the music) was good enough to join _Valley_?

* * *

><p>Manny sighed as he walked to Music class, alone for once. Ellie had to go and chase after Eddie and Crash after the prank they had played on some Half-Peak students (Not Soto or his gang, surprisingly), and Sid had wandered off to who knows where. He had not seen Diego since the previous day, and had only seen Shira a few hours ago before they had attended different classes.<p>

He entered, and sat himself down on the seat.

Diego, with Soto, Oscar, Zeke and Lenny, strolled in with the majority of the student body. Manny exchanged a smile with Ellie, who was dragging her brothers along, and rolled his eyes good-heartedly at Sid as he tripped trying to sit down. Diego was the last to join their small group, and he eyed Manny almost as if he was a rare yet dangerous specimen.

Manny felt anger at being scrutinised like that, but taking one look at Ellie's worried expression, said nothing. He had to admit, he felt uncomfortable with having so much anger towards Diego.

Then, during the canteen incident, he had felt a brief moment of glee when he had wanted to burst out laughing. That scared him more than anything in the world: To laugh at someone's suffering, even if it was someone that he hated. Even worse, he was sure that Ellie had seen it.

Ms. Mitford smiled and clapped her hands for attention.

Immediately, everyone stopped chattering and turned to her. "Now, a quick reminder before you separate off to your different groups-" She turned to the large calendar that was hung on her whiteboard. "You have about a week more to get the project done, and then I suggest you start working on your compositions."

Collective groans travelled around the room, Manny being one of them as well.

To compose your own music was hard, but basing it on a guy who was supposedly delusional for dreaming of a 'devil' playing the violin in his bedroom and writing down the music? Manny couldn't even come _close_ to comparing with Tartini.

He watched Diego's expression.

Diego looked the same as always, but there was a hunted look in his eyes, and he looked pale. He didn't look sickly, just tired. His usually bright green eyes were dimmed slightly.

"I expect good things, everyone." Ms. Mitford smiled at their reactions, possibly finding it amusing. "Does anyone have any questions for the class?"

A hand was raised. Ellie. Manny turned to her as Ms. Mitford continued to smile. "Yes, Ellie?"

"When we compose the music, do we do it in a group or do we do it individually? Like can one compose and the other perform it?"

Ms. Mitford smiled, nodding. "Yes. If you want, you can stay in your groups. As long as everyone pitches in, for example, one composes and the other performs, you are fine."

"But can we perform it in a group?"

If it was possible, Ms. Mitford's smile brightened. "Yes, though I have to admit that that is hard."

"But what if it was a mashup? Like if we took bits of it and added some from his other pieces?" Manny had _no_ idea where Ellie was going with this, but Ms. Mitford looked thoughtful.

"Well, that would be harder, combining all of Tartini's pieces into the Devil's Trill, but if you can, go for it!" Ellie beamed and nodded, and Manny saw Diego sending Ellie the same suspicious look. As soon as the groups separated, Manny frowned at Ellie.

"What was that all about?"

Ellie beamed again. "Diego can take care of the music, and we'll play it. After we finish the project of course."

All of them stared at her as if she had gone insane. "Are you delusional?" Diego finally asked, breaking the silence. "No."

"And why would we put _him_ in charge of the music?" Eddie asked, crossing his arms.

"Yeah." Crash added, arms also crossed.

"Because of this." Ellie took the phone out of her bag.

"You stole my phone?" Diego asked, eyebrow raised as he snatched it back.

"Um, no. You dropped it." Ellie said. "But you can do the mashup."

"Why?" Diego asked, frowning as he unlocked his phone and checked it. "You hacked into my phone?" Ellie looked slightly sheepish.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I saw you just now."

"Just now?"

"During free period. You were creating a mashup of a song."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yeah, you were." Ellie nodded. "I heard one of them."

Diego looked exasperated. "No-Hey!" He tried grabbing his phone back from where Eddie had snatched it, but Eddie only moved out of the way. "Give it back!"

"No." Eddie scrolled through, before selecting a song. The area was relatively empty, with the other groups having moved already to other areas of the _huge_ classroom.

The song that Ellie had heard played again, and Manny found himself surprised. "You did this?"

"No." Diego answered flatly, his arms crossed.

"Don't lie. I saw you, and I'll get Crash and Eddie to keep annoying you until you admit it."

"Yeah!" Eddie piped up. "We won't return your phone."

"Fine." Diego turned and snatched his phone back, and locked it.

"Please? That was pretty good." Sid smiled hopefully.

"No."

"C'mon, you won't have to perform then." Manny could tell that Diego was considering it for a second, before shaking his head.

"Sorry, no can do."

"C'mon!" Ellie looked at him. "Just do it."

"Why would I?"

"Because we're all rubbish at composing, though Half-Peak students are worse, _you_ are great at mashups, and you can hardly play an instrument."

"How do you know that?" He muttered under his breath, crossing his arms.

"Where did you learn how to do that either?"

"I didn't." Diego scowled. At the glares of all of the Valley students, he rolled his eyes, placing his hands up in mock surrender. "My dad went to Valley. Happy?" He sighed, before biting his lip as he contemplated. "Fine. But you finish the rest of the project yourself. I did my share."


	12. 绝望

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I don't know why I'm so happy, but I'm posting this now. After this, there'll be Part II - At Half-Peak…<strong>**_Finally_**** finished the story. Updates will be more frequent now…so…enjoy, and thanks for the reviews!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 11:<p>

Oh, Diego was _good_, even Manny could admit that. Within days of telling him, Diego had sent them a file with the music sheets. And, as promised, they didn't include him in the project's finishing touches, letting him do whatever he wanted to during Music class.

However, in PE, the conditions were just getting harder.

Everyone crowded around, not exactly pleased with having been be taught by Coach. However, when they went there, they were alarmed to find a lady, strong and buff, looking at them suspiciously. "Coach is not going to be here for a few days. He has headed back to Half-Peak to prepare the U19 for the Soccer and Handball games, and to prepare the school for second term."

Soto rolled his eyes and folded his arms, but said nothing.

* * *

><p>Within hours of meeting her, rumours were already spreading around about Ms. Who-knows-what, who was bossing everyone around, even outside of class. By obligations, they had to do so.<p>

* * *

><p>As for Music, Ellie got the scores first, revealing to her friends that they had all got straight As, not something that the other groups could exactly boast about.<p>

* * *

><p>During Spanish, Diego and Shira managed to get the work done quickly, thanks to Shira's ability to scrape useful information from meaningless facts, a skill she had adapted when she used to be with Gutt.<p>

Then the rest of the time…well, let's just leave it at that they were…affectionate.

As for the grades for the Spanish project, Shira and Diego got one of the highest scores, only comparable to Zeke and Ellie's. Manny and Soto had absolutely refused to work with each other, and neither had Oscar and Sid.

* * *

><p>School was going okay, and the Half-Peak and Valley students had stopped glaring at each other every second they met.<p>

Some had even become friends.

Like Diego, Shira, and the 'herd'. The rumours had stopped about Diego and Shira, ever since Gutt had proved them true.

He had had to go to the nurse that day, the rest of his crew staying away from him as he was tended to because of a split lip, broken nose, black eyes, and 2 broken ribs. No one ever said who, but from that moment on, Gutt left whoever it was alone.

* * *

><p>For Manny, the term seemed to be looking up before the trip to Half-Peak to complete <em>their<em> half of the exchange. That was, until he found out about his parents.

* * *

><p>A few days before term, he and their usual group consisting of Eddie, Crash, Sid, Shira and Diego, were wandering back home, each living on the same street, but far apart. As they were walking, Diego's eyes suddenly sharpened, and he grabbed Shira, pulling her to the road, both narrowly avoiding a blur of…<em>something<em> trying to tackle them.

The thing didn't stop, turning around and trying to bite Manny's leg. Thinking quickly, Ellie grabbed her bag full of books and whacked it against the something, which…_whined_? before disappearing into an alleyway, all the while not stopping long enough for them all to see what it was.

That night, a figure walked into the alleyway, looking at the thing. The thing's glowing red eyes gleamed in the dark at the figure, who whistled. The thing trotted out slowly, before the figure's hand glowed green, and it fired something at the thing, who yelped and then fell, dead. As the figure walked away, another one walked onto the scene, gun in hand, and looking around.

The thing was lying on it's side, red eyes wide. Snarling, the second figure took out a lighter, setting the thing on fire and escaping quickly. Mr. Romano scowled as he took out his phone.

"Looks like the Witch is on the move again."

* * *

><p>It had been a relatively normal day, bag crammed with schoolbooks as he walked with Ellie, the twins, and Sid to his house to do homework and finish packing. All of them had dumped a large portion of things over at Manny's house to pack together. Shira and Diego were off somewhere, and Manny didn't feel like asking.<p>

Manny unlocked the door and entered, the house eerily silent. Ellie was at his side in an instant. "What happened?" She whispered. Even the twins were quiet, Sid clinging on to Manny. Now, Manny was too freaked out to care about it.

"Mom?!" He called out. "Dad?!"

A banging against the attic door upstairs made them all freeze. Manny took a deep breath, grabbing an umbrella from the stand nearby, and then slowly headed upwards, the stairs creaking under his and Ellie's weight as usual but seeming more eerie now. They moved up slowly, before reaching the second floor.

The ceiling above had an open floor ladder down.

Manny reached up, and pulled it down, the stairs creaking as they came down. Ellie turned to her brothers, who nodded, though a little nervous, and stepped up.

"Mrs. Romano?" They called out, turning in wide-eyed astonishment.

Manny and Ellie joined them up, Sid scampering up after them, not willing to be left alone at the bottom. "Mom! Dad!" the twins scurried quickly after them, both spooked out beyond words.

Both parents were gagged and tied, and looked up at the children, weary smiles on their faces. But not just _their_ faces. Ellie quickly ran over to try and untie her mom. The other teenagers' parents were here as well.

* * *

><p>"What happened?" Manny asked as soon as they were downstairs and settled.<p>

Manny's dad sighed, looking at his wife and the other parents. They nodded. "Manny, listen. Remember that…thing you told us about?" They all nodded.

"The one that nearly tackled Shira." Ellie nodded slowly.

Manny's dad sighed again, stress evident on hi features. His wife patted his arm, looking at him, worried. "Listen, we don't want to startle you. But both Shira and someone else were on scene, from what we could tell, during this incident. And there was another one after the thing tried to attack you. We never found out who was behind it."

"You mean that _Shira_ and someone _else_ did this? They couldn't have." Sid scoffed.

Ellie's mom leaned forward. "Sid, all of you, if it _weren't_ for them, I don't think that you would even _be_ here today. They saved your lives. If Shira hadn't pulled you back, then you would have died."

"Then what about the other one?"

"If that one hadn't destroyed the thing that tried to attack you the night it did, I think that the thing would've killed you that very night." Mr. Romano sighed. "The other person is something that I cannot tell you anything about. But we know that he or she is a relatively young person. Probably a Witch. Maybe around your age. Is there anyone that seems odd at times without explanation?"

Manny frowned. "What about someone that we suddenly hate for no reason?"

Mrs. Romano nodded. "That is instinctual for all of you." Confused looks as Ellie laughed nervously.

"To hate people like Shira?" Ellie asked, tilting her head.

Ellie's mom sighed. "Ellie, sweetheart, Shira is a Median."

"A what?" Eddie frowned.

Sid also frowned. "You mean those things in stories that can talk to the dead?"

"Yes." Sid's grandmother, the only family he had left nodded, solemn compared to her usually cheerful personality. "Do you know where Shira lives?"

"Near the graveyard." Ellie's voice coloured with understanding and realisation.

"What do you mean people like _them_? Like Shira? Are they just one?"

Mr. Romano sighed. "Manfred, we are hunters. Dæmon-hunters. But not the hunters that you think in human terms. We hunt down supernatural creatures. Werewolves, Vampires, Medians, Dæmons, and lots of others. Many famous people in history had been one of these from what we call 'The Other World'."

"The Other world?" Ellie frowned.

Sid's grandmother nodded, taking out a piece of paper and drawing what looked to be a map of the Earth. But she then added a land next to America, around the Pacific Ocean. They peered at it curiously as she marked out different territories. "The only ones we are worried about are the Witches. Their land borders our barriers that separate both worlds. The Dæmons and Medians are…more mild. The Medians are neutral, while the Dæmons are under the Witches' control."

Manny suddenly had a flash of understanding that he couldn't understand. He needed time to piece this together, but it started with… "You said that famous people in history had been one of the Other World. What about composers?"

"Yeah, those as well."

"And those have any physical signs?"

"Yes." Mrs. Romano nodded. "Like Einstein: He was a ghoul, which explained his 'mad scientist' picture. Beethoven, for example, was a Dæmon, which explained his easy irritable anger with people."

"What about someone like Tartini? Gieuseppe Tartini?" Manny asked slowly, and watched as understanding flashed across the other teenagers' faces.

"Yes. He was a witch: Explained the fingers, trills and his easy ability to play the violin. And the Devil? He helps Witches in need. And before you say anything, Witches do not necessarily need to be stereotypical: Green skinned, female, black hats, black cats, broomsticks."

"Do supernatural creatures study other famous people of their own?" Manny had no idea how he knew this and why he was accepting this so easily. The small hopefully still rational part of his brain was screaming at him that his parents were out of their minds, but the other side, the majority, won. He supposed it was in his genes.

"Yes." Sid's granny nodded.

"Like how Shira knew almost everything about Abraham Lincoln?" Ellie asked.

Mrs. Romano nodded. "Yes. Abraham Lincoln himself was a Median, one that didn't tell anyone. That was how he managed to get Robert E. Lee to give up the Confederate Army."

"Then, Witches study Tartini?" Manny asked. All of them nodded. A cold feeling was sinking into his stomach as he glanced at Ellie, Sid, and the twins. And they all, in unison, for once, knew that they were going to say.

"Mom, dad." Manny looked at them. "I think I know who is the Witch is. And he happens to study at Half-Peak."


	13. beznadějný

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Dun dun dun!…hope you enjoy this chapter…I know I did. Thanks to Shiego627 for reviewing - I know, I was a little creeped out at the thought at first...<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 12:<p>

_"Then, Witches study Tartini?" Manny asked. All of them nodded. A cold feeling was sinking into his stomach as he glanced at Ellie, Sid, and the twins. And they all, in unison, for once, knew that they were going to say. _

_"Mom, dad." Manny looked at them. "I think I know who is the Witch is. And he happens to study at Half-Peak."_

_"Who?" Mrs. Romano frowned. _

_"Diego." _

* * *

><p>Manny was running the conversation over and over again in his mind. He couldn't believe he had told them about Diego. Although he and Diego didn't get along well, they were still reasonably ok, and had gotten better over the term, first through their initial sarcastic ideas about Sid.<p>

Although he didn't act like it, Diego had practically become one of the 'herd', though he still spent most of his time with Soto's 'pack', and, of course, Shira.

As Diego settled himself down for Music, pulling out some music sheets, he looked up at his friends' faces, and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" Eddie asked, trying to act casual.

It failed.

"You guys look like you're at a funeral." Diego said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

Manny sighed. "Family business."

"_All_ of you?" Diego asked disbelievingly.

"Parents are friends."

Diego frowned, but didn't prod. "Ready to go to Half-Peak in January?"

Manny nodded, and tried to pretend to grimace. It failed terribly like Eddie's attempt in order to act casual. It turned out to be a real grimace. "Packing up now…doesn't seem to welcoming now that you think of the way that you guys acted at the beginning of the year."

"It'll be fine. And then you guys can get ready for the Tournament during March, right?"

Eddie groaned. "I nearly forgot about that."

"You're on the team?"

Crash nodded miserably. "We're midfields. Playing in the winter." He shuddered. "Cold."

"That's how life is at Half-Peak. Get used to it." Diego handed the sheets over to Manny. "Here. So far, I've only got one copy. Trying to print the others, but I'm not sure if I can. If you think it's ok, I'll send the sheets to you, and let you print it yourselves."

Ellie managed a bright smile. "Sure."

* * *

><p>Elena Romano stood in front of the Lopez's family house. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door, listening intently as a woman came and opened the door. She had her silvery hair tied in a bun, which matched her nearly silvery voice as she smiled tensely. Melanie Lopez. "Elena Romano. What can I do for you?"<p>

Elena smiled back just as tensely.

The relationship between the hunters in the area and the three Medians that lived so near the graveyard was tense in the mildest way put. When the three Medians had first moved over to Valley Settlement, as the small town was so named, everyone had been tense, but after the introductions had worn off, both sides had agreed to stay neutral for any argument on either side, and only to interfere if it affected them directly.

This, however, didn't mean that Elena regularly invited Melanie over for tea and a nice chat about Valley and the students. The feud between their children didn't exactly make things easier either.

"Hi Melanie." Elena tried to smile. "This is a quick matter only, one that may concern your daughter, so I am warning you before I should."

"Alright, let's hear it." Melanie waited.

"You're aware of the Exchange program at Valley Academy with Half-Peak Boarding School from, um, Glacier Pass?"

"Yes." Melanie nodded.

"And you are aware that your daughter is…ah…involved with someone from there?"

Melanie nodded again. "Yes. Diego."

Elena frowned mentally. Whenever she talked to anyone about someone, they would use their full name: First _and_ last names. But whenever Diego was mentioned, people could only tell her his first name. "Um, yes. Do you know his last name?"

"No." Melanie shook her head. "Shira mentioned him a few times, but that is it."

"Is it?" Elena dared to push her luck.

Melanie looked thoughtful, but her tone was slightly hostile now. "I know that they're going out, but I'm not sure if it is my right to share my daughter's private life with you."

"And you think that this arrangement is alright?"

"Oh, for Devil's sake, Romano, what the heck do you want?!" Melanie snapped, frowning. Just like Medians. Unlike humans, they preferred things brief and to the point.

"I, well, my colleagues and our children, suspect that Diego may be a Witch."

"A Witch?" Melanie repeated. "A Witch-in-training or an actual one?"

"An actual one." Elena answered. "You know as well as anyone that if he was in training that there would be someone following him, possibly a family member or someone that is the same…ah…race as them."

Melanie frowned in concentration. "I think that the ghouls at the graveyard had told me that they saw a woman recently, late twenties, around here, bearing a striking resemblance to Diego when I happened to be talking to them a few weeks ago."

Elena's heart skipped. _Could the woman be Diego's mentor_? But she didn't voice the question aloud, and instead smiled politely. "Do you know where she is currently?"

"No." Melanie shook her head. "She left a few weeks ago, about as abruptly as she had come. Her hotel," She struggled to remember. "I forgot the name, but I think that it is the one that is closest to Valley. A few miles away from Valley."

"Thank you, Melanie." Elena smiled. She might be able to go and question the hotel. Perhaps they could give her a name.

Melanie nodded at Elena suspiciously, and then shut the door as Elena turned and headed for the hotel. Time to go to the hotel.

* * *

><p>"Hello." Elena smiled at the person behind the register. Millicent Aros was a good friend of hers, living next door before she moved to a bigger house nearby but still far away with her children.<p>

Millicent smiled. "Elena! How've you been?"

"Lovely." Elena's smile was tense. Millicent seemed to notice, her brow creasing with worry.

"What is wrong?"

Elena took a deep breath. "Millicent, you know that my…job requires me to…ask questions and do things I generally am against." Millicent nodded slowly, unaware as to where this was going. "So, I need to know, as a professional, was there a lady that stayed here recently? I will get a warrant if needed, but I need to know. Possibly blonde or light brown haired, blue eyes…" she struggled to remember Manny's description of the woman, "professional looking? Tall?"

Millicent looked thoughtful, before nodding. "Ah, yes. Don't worry about the warrant, you've been a good friend to me all these years. Give me a moment." she opened a book, looking through it. "Here." she showed it to Elena, who looked at it. In swirling cursive, _Diana Bennett_ was written in one of the boxes. "She came in a few weeks ago, left two weeks ago."

"Did she say why she was here?"

Millicent shook her head, but looked thoughtful. "I heard that she was a lawyer. Quite formidable - she helped a guest here escape out of a lawsuit unscathed with rewards. She seemed quite cold, though, didn't socialise much."

"Hm." Elena considered this. "Do you know if she ever came here with a boy? Around 16, looks like her, with green eyes?"

Millicent frowned, looking thoughtful once again. "I don't know, but Renee took over for me one day when my child was sick. She's here, I'll ask." She turned to walk into the room behind her for staff only. "Renee?"

A lady came out. "Yes?"

"Do you ever remember seeing a boy with that lady, Diana Bennett?"

Renee looked thoughtful. "Not really, though now that you mention it, I've heard her talk on the phone with a boy called 'Di'?"

Elena's heart skipped. Diego. Di. Not hard to tell. It _couldn't _be a coincidence. "Are you certain?"

The lady nodded.

"Thank you. You have no idea how much you've helped me."

Renee smiled, though she still looked a little bit puzzled as to Elena's response. As for Millicent, she merely chuckled, waving as Elena walked out the class doors. "Be sure to call. We need to go out for tea sometime!"

Elena nodded, smiling as she waved back, before walking to the street, asking the bellboy for a taxi. He nodded, hailing her a taxi. Elena got in, stated her house address, and then leaned back, thinking this all over.

Diego White, a boy who came from Half-Peak. He had been homeschooled until Freshman year, and was a Witch, possibly in training. If he was a fully fledged Witch, then he might already know that Shira was a Median. And so, he would know that there were Dæmon-hunters living here. He knew a woman, Diana Bennett, who could either be his sister, or his mentor if he was still in training.

And he killed a Hound a few days ago before it could harm Manny and the other children.

Elena sighed. This was all so complicated.


	14. håbløs

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks for the reviews…was going to update earlier, but was busy…holidays, you know?<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 13:<p>

Melanie waited anxiously for her daughter's return. Witches, especially males, weren't exactly friendly with other races. They, besides Shape-shifters, were probably the most unsociable race that Melanie ever knew.

Shira came in a few hours after Elena's visit as promised from…somewhere. Melanie suspected that it was with Diego, as Shira always came back with a noticeable glow that Melanie could tell that Shira was trying to hide. However, whatever did this made Shira happy, and so Melanie left the matter at hand.

She was glad that Victor was out of town for the time, and watched as her daughter practically waltzed into the room.

"Shira." Shira turned, frowning.

"Yes?"

"Can we talk?"

"About what?" Shira asked back immediately, distracted though she was.

"About Diego."

This got her attention. Shira turned around fully, watching her mother carefully. "What is it, mom?" Melanie didn't know how to phrase this.

"Elena Romano came to me a few hours ago."

"Oh?" Shira asked, raising an eyebrow. The Hunters didn't get on with the Lopezs.

"And she mentioned something about Diego."

Shira frowned. "Not you too."

"What do you mean 'Not you _too_'? Has someone asked you already?"

Shira nodded. "Yes. The children of the Hunters in the district. They came up to me during Lunch. Did you tell them about us?"

"What happened?" Melanie asked, ignoring Shira's question.

_Shira closed her locker, ready to join Diego in the canteen, when she scowled at the faces that were right behind her. "Are you _trying_ to give me a heart attack?" _

_Crash smirked. "Maybe we are, maybe we're not." Shira growled at him, and he immediately backed away, stammering something about detention, and scurried off with his brother, who looked relieved to escape the wrath of the fearsome 'demoness' of the school. _

_"What is it?" She growled at Ellie and Manny, not caring where Sid was. _

_Ellie looked serious. "Shira, listen, we know about you and your parents." _

_"What?" Shira feigned confusion, though she knew what Ellie was talking about. Questions ran around her head wildly. _Who told them_?_

_Ellie then handed her something. "What is this?" Shira asked, peering into the ziplock plastic bag. _

_"A DNA test, a syringe for a blood test, and we need a strand of hair."_

_"From _me_?" Shira asked, frowning. Had she done something wrong that she wasn't aware off? No. She knew what she had done, and she hadn't done anything illegal that would force her to do things like this. _

_"No. Diego."_

_"Why not ask him yourself?" _

_"Because it would seem weird if we went up to him and asked him for a DNA sample, a blood sample, and a strand of his hair." Manny said sarcastically. "What do you expect us to say? 'Hey, Diego, listen. We need a blood sample, a DNA test and a strand of hair for something that we can't tell you.'"_

_"And why should I listen to you?" Shira frowned. _

_"Because we know you're a Medium, and our parents are Hunters."_

_Shira hid her surprise. "And so? What do you expect _me_ to do? Say 'Hey, Diego, listen. Manny and Ellie want me to take some DNA tests and samples for a reason that they can't tell me about, and if it turns out to be false, you can stay 10 kilometres away from me after that, because I could get killed for revealing the other world.'"_

_Ellie giggled. "That would be an ideal way to tell him." _

_"Ellie." Shira shot her a look. _

_Ellie grinned. "Both of you are closer than any of us. It would seem less suspicious from someone that he trusts than someone that he doesn't know."_

_"I never asked him for this."_

_"Say it's for a bet, then." Manny said. _

_Devil, they had planned _everything_. Shira nearly giggled as she wondered if both of them had planned a place, what she should wear, what she should say and what she had to do when she asked Diego for a test. _

_Shira sighed, schooling her expression into a suspicious one. "And why should I do this?"_

_"Because we think that Diego is something that we're not quite willing to tell you yet." And, with that, they walked off, leaving Shira to turn and walk to the canteen, where she knew that Diego was. _

"And what happened?" Melanie asked.

"We went out for a few hours, and, mom, you will _never_ guess what. Diego _knows_ we are Mediums. He knows about the other world."

_"I know you are Mediums."_

Melanie froze. This was disastrous- her thoughts were interrupted by Shira. "But he said that he wasn't going to say anything to the authorities or any other hunters, because then…" She hesitated. She knew that Diego had told her was supposed to be kept secret, and so she frowned. "Well, it's a long story." Shira stood up.

Luckily, her mother didn't push her. "Just one more question, Shira." Shira, who had been heading up the stairs, turned.

"Mmhmm?"

"There was a woman that looked like Diego, according to the ghouls at the graveyard. Who was that?"

Shira feigned ignorance. "I don't know."

Melanie nodded, and Shira practically ran to her room, lying down on her bed, smiling nearly goofily at the ceiling. During the 'date' (she refused to acknowledge it properly), both Diego and Shira had confided in each other what they were, and now, both were good, and had spent the rest of the time talking about the other world.

It felt good to talk to Diego about this stuff, and she told him about Ellie and Manny. She had hardly believed it. At the beginning of the term, they had hated even _thinking_ about the other, and then, halfway through first term, they had started going out together, and now, both were out, and both were happy.

He had done the tests, with both of them laughing all the while as they hid out (_"Guess what people would say if they saw us."_), and had explained why to Shira after he had done so, but one line kept on replaying in her head again and again.

_"Because my ancestors did so."_


	15. Senespera

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the wait…anyway, here's chapter 14, marking the end of the vital bits of this story. The next part isn't as important, but still. May do a sequel…too early to tell. Thanks for the reviews!<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 14:<p>

"Here." Shira thrust out her hand, handing Ellie the ziplock bag. Ellie smiled and took it.

"You didn't tell him?" Shira shrugged, and turned around. Thankfully, Ellie took this as confirmation, and turned back to her locker. Shira walked away, sighing. Only a few more days until winter break, and some of the Half-Peak students would stay behind to travel with the buses of the Valley students.

Diego was one of them, and Shira found, to their _immense_ luck, that she was in a small bus with Diego, Manny (she could tolerate him), Ellie (She was okay with the friendly girl), Sid (She was not sure if she could help herself if she killed him), and the twins (_Definitely_ not).

And so, as the days flew by, all of the Sophomore students anticipating the trip to Half-Peak, and the other students eagerly waiting for winter break, Shira watched as the belongings of her friends' suitcases piled up, while hers remained empty.

Diego usually came over, and before long, Shira's mom and dad got used to him coming in and out of the house with Shira, both usually laughing, or sniping at each other for some insignificant matter.

Shira was now home, looking through her clothes and sorting them out. Diego was looking at the bookshelf, which held an embarrassing less number of books. "God, are you some sort of native or something? Where're the books?"

The girl scowled at her (not admitted yet) boyfriend. "Very funny. You don't exactly have a lot of books."

"I have practice." Diego smirked.

Shira sighed. Diego had come over to help her pack, and they have been doing so for an hour. "History of Music?"

"No."

"Biography of Abraham Lincoln?"

"Yes." Diego tossed the book to her, and she caught it, stuffing it into her bag.

"Anything else?"

"Ugh." Shira groaned. "Textbooks."

"I'll do that." Diego offered as he sat up. He whistled. "Advanced chemistry. Never thought you for Science before, kitty."

"Shut it." Shira snapped back at him, feeling colour flush to her face.

"Ok, so you need your Spanish textbook, of course, best bring your English notebook, in fact, just bring _all_ of your notebooks."

Shira groaned again. "Great." Diego smirked as he lifted the stack of notebooks, and dumped them to where Shira was standing beside her bed, her luggage open on the bed, before pecking her on the lips.

Shira sighed. "What's Half-Peak like?"

Diego shrugged. "Huge? More PE equipment than the others, but it is still passable for brain section."

"What about the Tournament?"

Shira could tell that Diego was interested in that. His eyes lit up almost comically as he started talking at a rapid pace. "It's great. There're at least 50 teams on there, 51 now with Valley, and Half-Peak has attended every since the Tournament started. The courts and fields where they hold the Tournament are _amazing._ God, and _huge_."

Shira laughed. "Sounds fun. What happens?"

"The whole thing lasts for about a week. The first day, the small matches start, with 25 teams being eliminated. The second day, since the matches last longer, they take out about 8 teams, before going on to the third day, where they take out another 5 teams, on average. On the fourth day, two teams at most are eliminated. Usually, this is where the ties start. Then, on the fifth day, there'll be 4 remaining teams, almost always including Half-Peak and Underworld."

Shira frowned. "Underworld?"

Diego smiled, looking embarrassed. "None of us remembers the name. We don't try to, anyways, since they always work around the rules."

"So they cheat?" Shira asked, eyebrows furrowed. Diego nodded.

"The only way to defeat them,"

"The way that Half-Peak wins over them?"

Diego smirked, but continued as if she didn't say anything. "All of us are required to remember the rules for the games we play, back to front, so that we can counter any of _their_ loopholes with _ours_. Didn't start as a necessity, but after Half-Peak nearly lost, it did. Then, on the sixth day, there will be either 3 or 2 teams left. On the final day, the last 2 teams fight it out, and then the celebrations all go, and then all of them return to their schools."

"Have you ever played?" Diego shook his head.

"No. By the time I joined Half-Peak last year, the Tournament was already over. First time playing this year."

"Does the Tournament feature anything other than soccer?"

Diego nodded. "Track-and-field: Sprints, long runs, etc. No cross-country runs, though, they take up too much time. Almost all of them happen at the same time, the place where the Tournament is held _has_ to be big or else."

Shira frowned. "So each team is organised so that each member can play in the different sports?" Diego shook his head.

"No, I'm the only one. But the organiser managed to make it so that I can attend all of them, but I have to rush."

Shira looked interested. "Which ones?"

"Track-and-Field and soccer. That's all."

"Well, good luck then."

"Wish it to me 4 months later, and I'll do the same to you."

Shira smiled, before looking at her suitcase. "That's enough packing for one day."

"We barely packed for an hour!" Diego looked exasperated, but nodded. "C'mon. I could use a drink right now."

* * *

><p>After 3 weeks of the winter holidays, where Diego spent more time with her, and both talked about the other world more, Shira was finally boarding the bus with her friends to Half-Peak.<p>

She smiled at Ellie, who beamed back, and took the back seat with Manny.

Shira sat at the front, where Diego had headphones on, listening to something on his phone. But he smiled as she sat down, and pecked her cheek, before turning to look out of the window.

_Half-Peak, here we come._


	16. Lootusetu

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And this is the not important part leading up to the possible next part…I dunno. Anyway, thanks to those who reviewed, and hope you enjoy!<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>PART II:<strong>

Chapter 15:

The trip was long. The trip was very long. The trip was exceptionally long. The trip was unbearably long. The trip was painstakingly long, and it would kill someone before it ended. Or, at least, that was what Sid started complaining about, with the others joining in, until Diego snapped at them to shut up, they were 17 years old for god's sake, grow up.

Shira leaned against his shoulder, one of his ear buds (from headphones to earphones, how many did he _have_?) in her right ear, the left one in Diego's.

She was humming lazily along to a remix version of _Dynamite_, and flipped the page of the book in her hands.

"You done reading that?" Diego finally asked her. "You have spent 5 hours reading the _same_ book."

"I'm re-reading bits." She looked at Diego, who was clearly mashing up music on his laptop. She snatched his phone, unlocked it, ignoring his indignant protests, and then clicked on a mashup, one that she hadn't heard before, and then leant back.

Manny finally leaned forward. "What's the Tournament, Diego?"

And that set Diego off as he started describing the Tournament. Shira laughed quietly, and then fell asleep.

* * *

><p>"Morning, sleeping beauty." Shira yawned as she looked around.<p>

"We're here?"

Diego laughed as he nodded. "Nearly."

Shira looked out of the window, while Diego left his seat to wake the others up. Once awake, they immediately attached themselves to a window, eager to see how Half-Peak looked like.

And they were not disappointed. A large modern-looking building, with a large visible field at the back. "The field is _huge_." Eddie murmured against the glare.

Diego laughed again. "If I think that that is normal, and the Tournament's fields are _huge_, wonder what they'll be like."

He looked up. "I'll be showing you guys around, like the others."

"I thought Half-Peak was older?"

Diego shrugged. "The older version is connected to the modern version." He stretched as the bus stopped and it opened, with all of the other buses following suit, and the students flooding the outside courtyard, where Ms. Mitford, one of the chaperons, was talking to the Coach.

Amazingly, both had gotten along well.

"Ok, everybody!" Coach called out. "You will be taken to the dorms, and then get ready for dinner. Dismissed!"

All of the groups split up, each heading in the same vague direction, but different. Shira felt dizzy as Diego led them through a maze of corridors, greeting some students who had already returned early. "How do you _not_ get lost?" Sid looked around, gulping as a student glared at him, a malicious look on his face.

Diego smirked. "Memory. Anyway, don't draw attention to yourself." He turned and walked for some time more, before Ellie voiced a question.

"Hey, where're my brothers and Sid?"

They turned, and Diego growled. "Great."

* * *

><p>"Hi!" Sid called out. "Um, could you-" The student rudely brushed past him. Eddie rolled his eyes.<p>

"Great try, nimrod."

"At least I'm doing _something_!"

Crash snickered. "Not working, though, is it?" He snickered again as Sid failed to get another student's attention.

"Well, well, lookie here. Some Valley students."

They all turned to face a small group of four. The leader smirked. "I guess it's only polite to show you the customary welcome, no?" Without hesitation, he gripped Sid by the neck and slammed him to the wall. Eddie and Crash watched.

"Cool!" They chorused, before the same thing was done to them.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The leader turned, and Sid nearly melted in relief. Diego was frowning at the group of four. Manny, Ellie and Shira were behind him, paused some ways away.

"Back away, Diego."

Diego smirked, crossing his arms. "Or what?"

The boy scowled, but turned away. "Someday, you'll get your turn."

"I'll be waiting." Diego said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "C'mon." He growled at the three, before taking off once again in a dizzying series of corridors and halls.


	17. nawawalan ng pag-asa

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks to those who reviewed, hope you are still enjoying the story…finishing soon...<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 16:<p>

"God." Manny stared at the room in belief. "Wow." Even if he hated to admit it, these dormitories were _way_ bigger than the dorms in Valley. Diego chuckled at his tone of awe, before opening a door. "This is your room. It leads to different rooms. Two in each room. I'll take you to dinner tonight, so, bye for now, I need to catch up on the training with the others. Coach'll play Hell if we skip another one."

The space in front of them was like a tiny living room, with couches and tables and everything else, like a dining table.

And, just like that, he was gone.

"Ok, so, I'll go with Shira." Ellie pointed to the door on the right, leading to a room. There were two other doors.

"We're together!" Eddie and Crash called before darting into the room.

Manny sighed as he looked at Sid. Sid beamed. "We're roommates, Manny!"

"I'm aware." He muttered, pushing his way into the room.

"Knock knock." Ellie and Shira looked up, seeing Diego leaning against the open doorframe. "Everyone's ready to go for dinner. You?"

"If the big bell was any indication, I'd say we're quite ready." Shira scowled. "Do they do that _everyday_?"

"'Fraid so, kitty." Diego smirked, before darting out of the door as a pillow flew his way. "We'll be waiting outside." Shira growled at the door, but knew that there was a current of amusement. Ellie was watching her.

"Kitty?" She asked, struggling to hide a grin.

"Shut up." Shira snapped, crossing her arms.

Ellie laughed, and then walked out of the room, Shira following.

As Diego had said, all of them were waiting outside. As soon as the two girls joined them (with some grumbling from Eddie and Crash about how long girls took to change, and then shut up with a glare from Ellie), they walked out, Diego leading them with a quiet confidence.

"After dinner," He informed them. "There will be a session in the hall about the lessons and everything else, and then it's off to bed."

"That's it?" Eddie asked, surprised.

"The teachers guessed that you were tired from the trip." Diego didn't add anything else. He moved through the quiet hallways and corridors, where the windows displayed how late it was getting.

The canteen was bustling with activity, and Shira looked around, eyes wide. She had never been to a boarding school before, and this seemed unreal for some reason. "I feel like this is all a dream." Shira muttered in a low voice to Diego.

Diego smirked, and pointed out the sections. "Main course, salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza. End."

Eddie and Crash lit up when he said pizza, and were gone before anyone could blink. "That was fast." Diego looked bemused.

"You'll be fine?" He turned to the others, who nodded. When he received the confirmation, he turned and left, disappearing through the crowd.

Manny, Ellie, Sid and Shira looked around. "So, sandwiches?" Sid offered.

Ellie nodded. "I'm not that hungry."

All trooped to the sandwich line, which was surprisingly long, and then sat themselves at a table which Eddie and Crash had managed to hog, near the window. Shira sat near the window, and looked at the bright bustling canteen, before catching sight of Diego.

He was laughing with his friends, Soto, Zeke, Oscar and Lenny, who were talking away.

Shira was sure that they were catching up on lost times, since she had never seen some of the Half-Peak students before. She caught the eye of Diego, who smiled at her. She returned it, and then watching as Soto whispered something to him, which he rolled his eyes at, and, then, just like that, the moment was broken.

She looked into her meal, feeling a whole lot lighter.

* * *

><p>The students all gathered as the bell rang, and each of the Sophomore Half-Peak students spread out, searching for their groups. Eddie and Crash were halfway through their second pizza. Diego grinned at the indignant look on their faces.<p>

"We can take that away." He pulled out a paper contained from his satchel bag, which Shira didn't even know that he was carrying.

In fact, as she looked around, she realised that all of the Half-Peak students had bags of some kind of them.

"Should we bring bags?" Shira looked around.

Diego nodded. "It would be easier. Students don't necessarily have the time to rush to their rooms to get their stuff. And we don't have lockers, we just keep everything in our rooms."

They started walking out of the canteen. "What about the Half-Peak students' rooms?"

"What about them?"

"How're they like?"

"Pretty much like yours. I share a room with Soto." He led the group skilfully through the crowd. "Hope we get back seats. Speeches aren't exactly the most enjoyable things here at Half-Peak."

Shira grinned at that, before following him in.

* * *

><p>At the end of the day, Shira lay down on her bed, wondering what on earth the next day would be like. She smiled as she turned on her single bed, seeing Ellie sleeping soundly.<p>

Well, she would find out tomorrow.


	18. toivoton

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks to all those who reviewed!<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 17:<p>

Manny woke up as bright sunlight splashed across his face. "What the heck?" He muttered groggily. Diego was staring at him, agitated.

"Wake Sid up! Do you have _any_ idea how hard it is to wake you guys up?!"

Manny's mind briefly registered the clock: _7:15_. They had to be in class by 7:30!

He woke up properly as if cold water had been splashed onto his face, and hastily got dressed, looking at his timetable and stuffing the books in his bag, before waking Sid up, watching him do the same. Eddie and Crash were already up outside, and Diego was handing them some sandwiches.

"Are we _really that_ late?" Eddie yawned.

Shira and Ellie joined them as Diego handed them sandwiches. "Breakfast." He explained. "C'mon!"

He practically ran out of the classroom, joining the busy crowd outside, running around. "Everyone having the same problem?"

Diego turned back at Shira's question. "You mean the Half-Peak students having trouble waking the Valley students up? Pretty much yeah."

A few of the students called out greetings to Diego, who answered them. The Valley students looked worn out. They continued practically running as they stuffed the sandwiches in their mouths. "Hey, Tom!"

Eddie snickered. "Tom?"

"He's English." Diego said absent-mindedly. A Half-Peak student turned. "Where's Soto?"

"On his way to Biology."

"Good." Diego huffed.

"What is it?"

Diego turned. "I have Track-and-Field practice today, first and second period. Soto goes to both your classes." He rolled his eyes at their faces. "C'mon. I can't bring you around. I can't be in two places at once."

"You sure about that?" Manny asked, raising an eyebrow.

Diego smirked. "Maybe." And rushed on, before catching sight of Soto and calling out to his friend.

"He's joking, right?" Crash whispered to the others.

Ellie nodded. "Sure."

Eddie cringed. "We think."

Soto made his way over, along with a group of Valley students that Shira quickly recognised as Gutt and his gang. Fear tricked into her mind. Diego and Soto exchanged words, before Soto reluctantly nodded, and beckoned to the group.

They moved over, and as all of them turned to get lost amongst the crowd again, Shira felt a hand grab a wrist. She grinned, seeing Diego, who grinned back, before pecking her on the lips and then running off.

Shira smiled. Only Diego could ever do this to her.

* * *

><p>They returned back to their dorms with Diego, who sat himself down on one of the chairs. "Well, you've got yourself a lot of introductory homework." He smirked at the group. "Want me to get dinner?"<p>

"Here?" Eddie asked in disbelief.

Diego nodded. "'Course. They allow us to eat in the dorms whenever we have too much homework to do. Became sort of rule-like a few years back. What'd you want?"

"Pizza." Eddie and Crash chorused. Diego raised an eyebrow, but nodded, crossing his arms.

"Main course, whatever they have." Ellie nodded at him. "But nothing with any garlic." Diego nodded, and turned to the last three, who shrugged.

"Anything." Manny voiced their thoughts.

Nodding, Diego disappeared through the door.

"What time is it?" Eddie asked, looking around for a clock.

"Wow. 4 o'clock. Is it _really_ that late?"

Ellie laughed. "No wonder they eat dinner in their dorms." Diego returned surprisingly quickly, his arms laden with food.

All took their choice, with Diego eating a sandwich as he leaned back. "According to Coach, we're supposed to stay here and 'help'" He used air quotes, "To get you used to our schedule, so do your homework _now_, and then do whatever you want later, but get to bed no later than 8 unless you want to be tired in the morning."

Shira nodded, already beginning to feel drowsy. But she pushed it aside, and took out her homework. "Let's make this quick."

* * *

><p>The next few days came and passed without any incidents. Turns out, Gutt and his crew were too tired to bother the Half-Peak students, who ignored them.<p>

But then, after 3 weeks, something happened.

Diego was with the herd, as had become his customary position, and took out his phone, looking at a text as he ate. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he stood up abruptly, dropping the food onto the floor. But he ignored that as he ran out of the room.

"Diego?!" Shira called after him as Eddie and Crash stared in dismay at the fallen pizza. "What's wrong?"

Diego came back only to poke his head back into the room. "It's Zeke."

"What about him?" Ellie asked. She had developed a sort of fond exasperated acquaintance with Zeke, and both were ok.

Another message had Diego sprinting away. He only managed a few words before he took off, which had the rest of them running after him, the food long forgotten.

"He's been poisoned!"


	19. sans espoir

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks again for the reviews…for now, only a few chapters left. And as for the what happens next, I feel that it needs to happen…I'll explain in the last chapter. <strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 18:<p>

"What the hell?!" Diego shoved his way through the crowd, to where Soto and Oscar were standing, watching as paramedics took Zeke's body away. But there was no rush, and his heart sank as he turned to Soto. "Dead?"

Soto nodded forlornly, looking shocked at the same time as he answered. "Dead."

Diego froze as he looked at where the paramedics were taking Zeke's body away. Shira elbowed her way to the front frowning at Soto. "What happened?!"

The captain shrugged, confused. "We were about to start training-"

"Don't you have to wait for Diego?" Shira asked, frowning, keeping her voice low so that only Soto and Diego could hear her.

Soto nodded, turning to Diego. "I sent you a text telling you of the practice. You said that you were on your way."

Diego frowned, equally confused as he pulled out his phone. "I _never_ got that. And I sure as hell didn't _send_ it." He went over his messages, showing Soto and Shira as they looked at the messages.

Diego was telling the truth.

The only messages that he got from Soto were the ones about Zeke being poisoned. The last text that _Diego_ had sent _Soto_ was yesterday, when he had answered Soto's question on when he had track-and-field practice.

"Who would want Zeke dead that he would actually do this?" Shira frowned, all hostility towards Soto forgotten, and vice versa. Lenny and Oscar joined them, looking equally shocked.

"The others are at the Principal's office, talking to the cops." Oscar managed out in a steady voice. "We're next." He frowned at Diego. "Where did you go to?"

"I didn't know that we had practice."

"No." Oscar shook his head. "I saw you in the changing rooms. I called out to you, but you didn't turn."

"What do you mean?" Diego asked, frowning in confusion. "I didn't leave the dorms. I was with Manny and the rest. Just ask them."

Now, Oscar was frowning like Diego. "I _swear_ I saw you."

"I only came down after I got Soto's text on Zeke."

At that moment, all of them turned as a cop came, and beckoned to the four standing at the now darkened soccer pitch. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Shira paced anxiously outside, relaying the details to the rest of the 'herd', who frowned in confusion at Oscar's claim. "Do you think that he could be trying to frame Diego?" Ellie asked, confused. "I mean, he doesn't exactly like Diego."<p>

"No." Shira shook her head. "And if it was, he could get a Golden-Globe nomination for his acting.

Soto, Lenny and Oscar slowly filed out of the office, the shock slowly wearing off.

"Where's Diego?"

Soto shooed Lenny and Oscar away. "Still in there. Some dispute over the security footage. He said that he was with you, but the footage showed him leaving the changing rooms, and moving over to Zeke's lockers when he said that he was with you."

"But, that's wrong." Sid protested. "He _was_ with us."

Soto sighed, and turned to leave. "We can't be sure about that. You're his friends, and the cops think that it could get personal. Anyways, the footage showed you guys on your own in your dorms."

"But we were talking to him. Wouldn't it seem weird that we were talking to thin air?"

A shrug and another sigh. "Look, I don't know. You guys _weren't_ talking to thin air, only yourselves. I trust Diego to cover my back, and I will his, but I don't have anything that can actually help."

"Anything else?" Manny asked from behind.

"Diego's phone?" Soto turned. "2 texts were deleted: The one that I sent and the one that he had returned, but he swore that he never deleted the texts."

"What's going to happen to him now?" Shira looked up.

"Guardian's going to come and smooth it over with the school and Zeke's parents." He then left. "I wouldn't stay up too late, if I were you. We still have some classes tomorrow."

Once he was gone, Manny frowned. "How on earth was the camera footage altered? Who would have done that?"

Shira sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Diego."

"What?" Eddie and Crash chorused.

"All of the creatures of the other world have some sort of trademark that you immediately know that they were there. For Mediums, it's the smell of death. For Witches, it's the fact that they can't be caught on camera unless they _want_ to."

"So you mean that the reason that the camera footage can't be displayed is because Diego would always just stop them unless he wants to appear in it."

Shira nodded. "The footage would alter itself to a more reasonable or logical sight to Mortals' eyes."

"Then," Sid lit up. "If Diego can't be seen on camera, then he wouldn't have appeared on the cameras in the changing rooms! We can tell them that!"

Manny whacked him on the head. "And what? Reveal the existence of Witches, Mediums and Dæmon Hunters? 'Oh, hi!' He faked in aphony voice. "'Listen, Witches and ghouls exist, and our families hunt them down, and Diego is a Witch and he can't be viewed on screen unless he wants to, which is why he didn't appear in the dorm footage, and so an impostor mush have done so!'"

Shira sighed. "He's got a point."

"Then what do we do?"

At that moment, the door opened, and Diego walked out, expression blank.

"What's wrong?"

Diego scowled, suddenly looking annoyed, and maybe even a bit frightened. "The school'll send me all the necessary homework and textbooks and stuff, but I'm getting suspended for the rest of the school year."


	20. sen esperanza

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ok, this just came up after watching something that I don't really remember about. Thanks for the reviews!<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 19:<p>

"What?!" The whole 'herd' was stunned. Shira scowled.

"But you _didn't_ do anything!"

Diego snorted. "Try telling the cops that." He sighed, and rubbed his eyes. "At least I'll get to return here next year. I'm lucky that they didn't _expel_ me."

"Your guardian?" Ellie asked, concerned.

Diego smiled weakly. "Diana." He sighed. "I'd better start packing. I'm leaving tomorrow."

"What?!" Another exclamation.

Diego smirked, though it lacked some of his former sarcasm, if that was even possible. He shook his head as he turned in the direction that Soto had left by. "I'm going in the morning."

* * *

><p>Shira sighed. It had only been 4 days, and she was <em>bored<em> to death. Honestly…their new guide was _hopeless_. It was dinner, and she had opted to skip it for a walk around the school. The corridors were unusually silent, with all the students having gone for dinner.

She moved outside to the soccer pitch, and inhaled deeply, before sighing once again.

Suddenly, she noticed something, and frowned. Someone was moving across the soccer pitch, running in the darkness, keeping to the shadows, but appearing frequently. She followed it quietly, using her ability to blend into the shadows to follow the being.

As the figure stepped into the empty changing rooms, her eyes widened.

Her hand flew to her mouth.

_A Doppleganger. _

That was the only reason. Diego, or at least, a version of Diego, was leaning over the bench, something in his hands. As he turned around, a mark appeared briefly on his head, which marked that this creature belonged to the race of the Changelings.

Shira had one, just above her wrist, that marked that she belonged to the Graveyard, and the Graveyard alone. No one would be able to take her from there.

No wonder the Doppleganger had specifically targeted Diego, a Pure Witch. Dopplegangers usually worked for Hags, lower forms of Witches that were usually used in films. Dopplegangers had the basic power to do the same as Witches: Control the vision of CCTV cameras, since they worked for them, after all.

Taking a deep breath, she turned around, and exited, but she knocked against a stray football left there, and she froze as the Doppleganger turned. Without hesitation, Shira ran out, onto the pitch, trying to get up to the bleachers.

The Doppleganger ran up behind her, having not gotten Diego's speed, and slowly catching up.

Desperately, she looked around for help, but found none. Calling out, though she knew it was hopeless, she closed her eyes tightly as the Doppleganger tackled her. "Oof!" She huffed out, kicking the Doppleganger in the chest and sending him flying backwards.

Immediately, a shout came, and Shira looked up, eyes wide. Ellie was there, running down, closely followed by Manny, Eddie, Crash and Sid, though the last three were mostly hiding. Ellie ran over to her side. "Are you alright?"

Shira nodded shakily. "A Doppleganger."

"A what?" Manny asked, oblivious.

"A Doppleganger. One of the most dangerous foes you'll ever meet. They can turn into any sort of shape or form that they want to, and can escape battles relatively unscathed. They worked as spies during the War."

"Watch out!" Eddie yelped. Manny ducked, but Ellie wasn't fast enough as she got smacked in the face by frisbee.

The Doppleganger was now running up to them, using Diego's face, his expression contorted into a snarl, but before he could fully attack, a blur tackled him across. "Diego." Shira breathed out, never as relieved as she had been before now.

The Witches were known as Masters of the Dopplegangers.

Diego snarled along with the Doppleganger. It was impossible to see who was who.

"Get out. Now." Diego's voice was deadly.

The Doppleganger growled. "Our kind has listened to yours for long enough!"

"No, it appears they haven't." Diego growled back, before pointing to the exit. "Exit, in your own form."

Growling, the Doppleganger turned form, into a scrawny looking boy, about the same age as them, before scowling and exiting the pitch. Suddenly, he turned around, morphed into someone ale, and fired something at Shira.

Diego's eyes glowed a brilliant green briefly as a green translucent shield appeared, protecting Shira from the blast, and rebounding the spell back to the Doppleganger, who growled and stalked out, now in his proper form.

There was silence as Diego turned to face the astounded faces of the Dæmon-hunters. Shira smirked. "Took you long enough."

* * *

><p>Even after Diego was proven innocent, his suspension still stayed on, dismaying the soccer team. Two of their players were now off…what if another one followed?<p>

Meanwhile, the ones at Valley continued training hard for the Tournament…one that came in a few weeks.


	21. Epilogue: უიმედო

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Last chapter! Thanks for the reviews, and hope everyone enjoyed reading this! :)<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 20:<p>

The Tournament was _huge_. Diego wasn't joking when he said so. Shira and Ellie found themselves a seat, before waiting to watch the matches that led up to the final one. As Diego had said, the matches started with 51 teams, including Valley.

All of the schools were participating, with the Sophomores all gathered around. All cheered for their team's wins, and all sighed in disappointment when their team lost.

Valley, with Eddie and Crash's quick thinking, tricks and movements, easily scored many goals. Manny worked well as the goalkeeper, while Sid, who was a sub, told them of any weaknesses that he spotted amongst the other teams.

Half-Peak, considering that they had lost Zeke and Diego, worked pretty well, though it mostly ended with ties that needed to be resettled. The days dragged by, until Half-Peak managed to scrape themselves up to the fourth day. It was obvious that the new players were unaccumsted to the playing of the original team.

Underworld, clearly, cheated, though they didn't do anything that could be condemned as illegal or get disqualified. They, of course, managed to make it up to the top three, along with Valley and Half-Peak.

Valley lost on the fifth day.

On the sixth day, a miracle happened. Diego came back.

Apparently, after some persuading, Diego had managed to encourage the Principal to allow him to reenter the Tournament, even if it was for a while.

The player that had been dragging the team behind got happily kicked out, with Diego replacing him. Underworld had complained, but there was nothing the referee could do, much to everyone's glee. No one wanted to lose, but more than that, no one wanted Underworld to win.

With Diego back, the team sharpened evidently, with Half-Peak winning despite Underworld cheating, 8-5. Everyone rejoiced that day, but Diego managed to sneak away unseen to everyone for the celebrating part.

Shira merely sighed as they all prepared to go back, chattering excitedly.

_Invisibility spell._

She pulled out her phone. _Really? Invisibility Spell? Real mature._

The answer she got back had her laughing. _Please. Course not. Changeling spell._

* * *

><p>Nothing eventful happened at Half-Peak, except for the preparation to enter their Junior Year.<p>

* * *

><p>As soon as the Valley students got prepared to leave, Diego returned, and the 'herd' talked with him about him being a Witch. After several heated arguments, Diego had agreed to keep his activities to a minimum.<p>

They had then said farewell, exchanging contacts, becoming surprisingly good friends over the course of the year.

During the holidays, Diego frequently went over to visit Shira, vice versa, so they saw each other often. Shira often worried about the strain of having a long-distance relationship, but that disappeared from her mind every time she say Diego.

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><p>"Can't believe that it's Junior Year <em>already<em>." Eddie groaned as he slammed his locker. Shira rolled her eyes as Ellie replied.

"C'mon, Eddie. Enjoy it while it lasts."

"How can I enjoy more _work_?"

Ellie shrugged, and turned to her locker, taking out her remaining books. Shira sighed as she opened her locker, already missing Diego, before she stiffened, feeling arms envelop her waist.

"Morning, Shir."

Only one person called her that.

Or _dared_ to.

She turned around, eyes wide as Diego let go, grinning. "Diego!"

The 'herd' turned around, also astonished at the appearance of the Half-Peak student, with his books stuffed in his bag. "What're you doing _here_?" Shira asked, amazed and surprised, though she wasn't complaining. "Half-Peak started a week ago, didn't it?"

Diego smirked wistfully, if that was even possible. "My 'guardian'" He used air quotes, "Wasn't very happy with what happened with Zeke's death, the Doppleganger and my resulted suspension. So, she listened to my dad, and both agreed to send me here to Valley. After all, he _did_ study here, so." He shrugged. "Here I am."

Shira looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or shoot back with a witty comment. So, she surprised herself by hugging him, burying her face into the crook of his neck. "You are an _idiot_."

"I know, I know." Diego smirked.

Shira let go of him, and started pulling him to homeroom, with the 'herd' following shortly after, shaking off their shock. "Hey! Wait up!" Sid called out.

Both Shira and Diego laughed, only increasing their pace.

Shira smiled. _Maybe Junior Year wouldn't be _that_ bad_.


	22. Possible Sequel Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

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><p><strong>AN: This is the prologue for my hopefully sequel which will also hopefully be up soon…depends on what you think of this one. <strong>

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><p>Prologue:<p>

"My lord," the doppleganger bowed respectfully. Someone, hidden in the shadows, turned and regarded the doppleganger with displeasure.

"I am not pleased with you."

The doppleganger visibly swallowed. "There were some difficulties, master. We didn't…we hadn't anticipated the ability of the Witch. He is underestimated by everyone in the realm. He found out our plans within a day of them working."

The shadows growled, looming threateningly over the man. "And you expect me to find that as an excuse not to kill you?!"

Once again, the doppleganger spoke, trying to buy itself some time. "Master, we need your help in this. If you want what you seek from the boy, we may need your help extracting it."

A sigh. "I will not go! I will not go in this _hideous_ form. I need _time_! Time which you cannot GIVE ME!" The doppleganger backed away.

"Master?"

The shows quietened, before a figure stepped out. The shadows backed away more. "Use it well. He will promise you victory, that is for certain."

"A _human_ mortal will help _us_? Surely we would have more success getting another changeling or maybe a Witch."

A growl. "No Witch would ally themselves with us, or oppose the boy. Hags will be of no use to us either." The doppleganger could practically hear the next smirk. "And this is no ordinary human mortal, doppleganger, as you will soon learn."

The figure straightened up.

"Don't disappoint me." The shadows spoke to the figure, who nodded, bowed, and turned to the doppleganger, who examined the figure carefully, before bowing to the shadows.

"We will take our leave now, master." The doppleganger bowed respectfully.

"Good." The shadows turned as well to leave the small area. The White family will pay for all of their foolishness, for all of their arrogance. They will pay for humiliating me!"

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><p>A lady with her golden hair tied up in a tight bun stared at the laptop, eyes furrowed, deeply concerned. Something was wrong.<p>

She remembered the doppleganger that had tried to impersonate her brother and had killed one of his soccer teammates. There was something up with him, but she didn't know what. Without hesitation, she picked up the phone.

"Hello? This is Diana White. I need to speak with my father."

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><p>Meanwhile, a teenager awoke on his bed, green eyes glowing in the dark like a cat's as he peered around the darkness, before giving up on sleep, and leaning back on the headboard of his bed, closing his eyes and trying to keep his breathing under control.<p>

Something big was coming, and he needed to be ready for it.


End file.
